Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story
by Beloved Goddess
Summary: From one betrayal to another, Serena is fed up with the girls and Darien. Just when she is at her breaking point, a stranger steps in with the determination to change her destiny. What lies clouds Serena's past and who are her real friends. The truth.....
1. Chapter 1 Hidden Agenda

I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM THE MANGA SERIES OR ANIME....But I do own this storyline, any other characters outside of the original works of Sailor Moon and any other fictional environment outside of the Original Sailor Moon.

**Title:** Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story  
**Category:** Sailor Moon  
**Genre(s):** Romance/Adventure  
**Rating: **Rated: T (M for later chapters)  
**Summary:** From one betrayal to another, Serena is fed up with the girls and Darien. Just when she is at her breaking point, a stranger steps in with the determination to change her destiny. What lies clouds Serena's past and who are her real friends. The truth will be shocking and bonds of friendships will be put to the test. Somethings are really best left unknown. Journey with Serena as she battles her way through pain, betrayal, deceits and lies to find her true past and change her destiny forever.

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

**Chapter One – Hidden Agenda**

**Serena's Pov

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**

**Find Me!**

The urgency in the call startled me awake from my nightmares.

"Find you how?" I asked aloud.

**Find Me! I Can Help You! I Can Change Your Destiny!**

The thick honey voice vibrated in my head again. The silent tears that had fallen down my cheeks from the nightmares I had been having turned into sobs as my body shook with pain. My heart was so heavy, even heavier as the voice took its hold on me. I wanted to know who that voice belonged to; I wanted to know why I longed so badly to be wrapped in the voice's embrace.

"I don't know what to do; I don't know how to find you. It hurts, please leave me alone." I begged silently and pathetically. There was a whip of air in my head that made me think whoever was talking to me was sighing.

It had been going on like this for the past month, ever since that incident. This unknown voice had been my constant companion, always saving me from nightmares by interrupting my dreams. There are nights I feel the voice had taken a form and has patted me to sleep. I knew it was a male voice, I knew the voice clicked to something in my heart but I had no idea whose voice I was hearing or why it was constantly there to help heal the everyday bruises I received from Darien and the girls.

**Sleep Crescentia. Find Me In Your Heart. Sleep.** He murmured silently and I felt my lids drop with his gentle voice. I don't know why he calls me Crescentia, all I know is that it is a name I responded to even more so than Serenity. I was out in seconds and the nightmares did not return for the remainder of the night.

**Author's Pov

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**

While the broken hearted young superhero slept peacefully and silently for the first time through the fistful night, a shimmering red light appeared in her room and from the light stepped out a man completely shadowed in flames.

**Crescentia.**

His silent whisper sent a soft breeze like a blanket to cover the sleeping girl. With slow deliberate steps, he approached the bed and stooped. He stared down at the golden haired angel before gently running his fingers along the side of her cheek and jaw bones.

**You've Gotten Skinnier And More Worn Out My Love But I Will Save You. I will Change Your Destiny and Future So That You Never Loose Your Healing Smile. **

He said softly before sitting at the edge of the bed. Spreading his hand over her, a red light outlined her body and she was smoothly lifted of the bed and maneuvered into his open arms. He cradled her small frame against himself and amazingly, the fire that clouded his figure did not burn her. Lovingly he wiped her tear stained cheeks and blew in her face. The soft breath restored strength into her tired body, taking away the ache and restoring color to her pale skin.

**That's Much Better**.

Suddenly a silvery light in the form of a gate appeared. The fiery man looked up, knowing exactly who was interrupting his moment with the princess of the white moon. From the gate entered an ancient figure embraced by the moonlight. Her majestic silvery hair blew behind her by gentle invisible breezes, her lavender eyes narrowed in on the man who held her daughter so carefully in his arms and as soon as her whole figure emerged from the door, the door disappeared. Standing before the man was none other than the spirited form of the late queen of the Silver Millennium, Queen Serenity.

"Silver Queen." The fiery man greeted, not even bothering to rise up and bow as was the proper costume. The queen had not expected him to do so anyways.

"Greetings Crescentius. My guess was right; you have been in contact with my daughter." The queen said, her voice neither accusing nor accepting.

"Have I not the right to be by my soul's side? Especially when she is being hurt so much by the very man you banished me for in other for her to love him?" He retorted to the queen, his voice accusing, angry and reproachful.

"How did you break the seal?" The queen asked instead.

"Quiet simple, if you've had over a thousand years to learn a particular spell, after playing with it so much, you learn a lot of things. Including how to break it and set yourself free."

"But I see you are not fully free." The queen said, indicating to the flame around him which blurred his image and made him more an illusion than solid flesh.

"It is only a matter of time Silver Queen, already she calls for me. She yearns for me and only me. Endymion has no hold on her the way I have on her. I will take back all that you took from me Serenity and I will give to Crescentia what you couldn't give to her, what you took from her and from me. A future of peace, love and laughter. This is her hearts desire and I am the only one who can grant it to her. The future you all look forward to will not happen, Crystal Tokyo will never come to be!"

"You are making a big mistake Cresentius."

"That maybe, but at least I will have given her a choice in her own future and destiny."

"We did what we thought was best." The queen tried to reason.

"No, you did what you wanted to happen, completely denying her what she wanted and still you continue to shadow her own desires with your own selfish hopes." The fire around him grew hotter but there was no danger to the girl he held. Peacefully and safely she continued to sleep in his arms, completely unaware of what was taking place right in her room. The choices that would soon change her life and destiny forever more.

"You cannot go against the order of the universe. You will not change her destiny and I will tighten the seal." The queen threatened.

"Go ahead and do it but I tell you now, already my plan is in action. There will be a lot to pay for and to answer to my queen, let's hope you are not among those that will be severely punished. Now leave, be gone!" The queen stared at the raging man before her eyes trailed to her daughter. Even in his anguish, anger and pain, he still held her gently, always protecting her, always doing what was best for her. Had they made the right decision or the wrong decision? Was Crescentius right? One thing she knew in that moment was that if Cresentius had already made his move, then the universe was about to experience a change and a battle that has never been fought or seen before. In the end, the victory will decide the fate of all living and dead things.

"Do not throw yourself in something you do not fully comprehend Crescentius. Make no mistake; if everything I've worked so hard for comes into question then I will fight you with everything I've got."

"Is that a challenge Silver Queen?"

"It is what you must expect when you cross the line." Queen Serenity replied before turning to walk back out of the room through the silver gate that had reappeared. Crescentius as was the name of the fiery man took his focus of the queen as soon as she began to walk out of the room. He sighed, staring adoringly at the girl in his arms, running his fingers over her checks, lids and lips.

"Crescentia, will you fight by my side? Will you give us a chance or will you be like them and betray me? All I need is you, please, find me." he said and gently laid her back down on the bed. As he drew away, she unconsciously stretched her hand out to stop him but when she couldn't make contact with him; her face also unconsciously cringed in disappointment. A small smile spread on his lips at the small gesture, he bent and gently touched his lips against hers. The fire around him blazed harder and hotter, suddenly heating up the entire house. Though the kiss had not awakened her, it aroused in her a passion she hadn't felt for a long time. Suddenly the little kiss he gave her turned intense as she unconsciously responded to it. He lay on top of her, deepening the kiss as he held her close against him. She wrapped her hands around his neck and returned the fevered kiss until she began to brighten. The pink light around her turned golden as her crescent moon insignia appeared on her forehead. It blazed like the sun itself then as if by magic the insignia began to change. Her golden aura changed to silver then roused up as fire. What had been a Crescent symbol on her forehead blurred into a different shape that was not define.

Their two fires combined tampered with the temperature in the house to the point where her family could not sleep from the scorching heat. They felt they had been put in an oven. Sweating in bed uncomfortably, they got up and turned on the AC but the air they felt was heat. They did not understand what was happening and came out of their rooms.

"Mom who turned on the heater?!" Sammy yelled, sweating as if he had just come out of the shower.

"It' wasn't us sweetie, we tried turning the air conditioner on but it wouldn't work. Let's go check on your sister." They tiredly walked to the opposite side of the house where their daughter was having kissing party with the fiery man. As they got to eyesight of the door, their eyes grew big. From the cracks around the door, they saw small frames.

"My daughter is caught on fire!" Irene screamed and ran to the door. She touched the door knob and screamed in pain as the knob burned her hand.

"Irene, stay back!" Kenji screamed, taking the position of one ready to attack something. But as he got ready to attack the door, the temperature in the room suddenly returned to how it was and the fire they saw from the cracks in their daughter's room disappeared. They looked at each other in surprise. Tentatively, Irene brought her hand close to the knob again before gripping it nervously. But it was a cool knob, and her hand that was throbbing from the burn before suddenly cooled down as if she had never been burnt from the start. In all the weirdness, one thing that did not leave her mind was that her daughter was still inside the room. She opened it and they entered to find her sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Their jaws slacked. Simultaneously, they rubbed their eyes and stared at the room. Nothing was charred; there was no indication that the room or the sleeping girl had ever been in danger of being caught in a fire. Then they turned to look at each other. They had no explanation for anything.

"We were imagining things." Kenji said.

"Yeah, just our imagination." Sammy agreed reluctantly.

"Let's leave your sister and go back to sleep." Listening to Irene's advice, the family returned to sleep, closing the door gently behind them.

In space, the fiery man laughed softly at the family's perplexing.

"There is more to come Tsukinos. Soon you might sign yourself in an asylum." He said before restoring the image on the globe back to the love of his life who was happily asleep and dreaming of a time when she had no worries because she was protected in the embrace of a fiery young man whom she knew above and beyond all that he would always love her and only her.

"That's right Crescentia, remember what they want you to forget." He said, positioning himself in a more comfortable position on his throne chair to watch her the whole night.

"Goodnight my princess."

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READ AND REVIEW!

This story is going to be one of my toughest challenges ever as a writer to over come. updates for this story might be a bit slow and the chapters might be short ***advance warning*** so please don't be upset. there might be many chapters for this story but i feel i can do justice to this story only if i am not pressured to write long chapters or to update so fast.

I also am not yet sure where i should set this story at...but once i becomre sure i will indicate it. but so far i think it might be set after Galaxia.


	2. Chapter 2 Alexander The Stranger!

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

**Chapter Two – Alexander the stranger**

**Serena's Pov  
**

As strange as it sound, this was the first time in my life I have felt so…well rested! I woke up with a lot of energy that surprised me. There was no yawning, no desire to go back to bed and no pain in my body. Looking at the time it was six. Wow, an early morning where I feel great, a wonderful dream that has lifted my heart from the heaviness of the previous evening and my lips, why was it tingling? Touching it, it felt hot and my heart was beating fast. I blushed, thinking I might have had some sort of an erotic dream I couldn't remember. I had a whole hour and a half to get to school. What would every think if I showed up so early? What would Darien think? Will he be proud of me? The thought brought a little smile to my face but it disappeared as soon as it came.

Yeah right, who was I kidding? Even if he became proud of me, it would only last until the pink haired spore of a future daughter of ours showed herself up again. Sighing, I dragged myself to the bathroom to clean up for another long day. Why was my life like this? I had done everything I could possibly think of to make Darien take more notice of me, I even began going to school early and paid more attention in class! One whole month I didn't get detention, I brought up my grades from F's and D's to C's and D's! I stopped wearing children clothing and even managed to read books that didn't have pictures and even science books. I had improved my cooking by paying extra attention to mom and Lita when they cook but nothing I did was any good. To him, I will always come as number two. Second to his daughter, a child that was not even yet born!

And the scouts weren't helping with their adoration for that spoiled little brat. I know most think it's pathetic to be jealous of your own daughter but I am just a seventeen year old girl with my first boyfriend! I didn't have any child! And at this rate, I don't think I want any children if I will always feel this inferior to them.

And then last month's incident happened and I've barely felt like I'm alive ever since then. I've move through everyday with only my duties keeping me going. Grow up, marry Darien, become queen and give birth to Rini. No choice of my own, nothing. How can one be in a relationship yet feel as though she was the only one in love? Was it too much to ask for just a little more attention from my boyfriend? All our dates for this month had been canceled as punishment because in a moment of anguish I had raised my voice against their precious Rini.

Oh mother, was this the future you wanted for me? So devoid of confidence? Of love? Assurance? Of happiness? Why me? Why couldn't I find one true friend who could understand my pain? Someone who would always be there for me?

In the shower, like I did every morning, I cried out my frustration. Thirty minute's later I left the shower. I suddenly had a need to leave the house, to go somewhere far and never look back! To run, run away from everything until all the pain and anger had left me. Where had my reason gone to? What happened to what you said Luna? That it would get easier as life went on? It's been three years since I became Sailor Moon and yet every day just feels worse than the day before!

Hurriedly, I dressed in my school uniform, grabbed my bag and left my room to downstairs. I could smell and hear the sizzling of bacon and the yummy scent of pancakes but this morning I didn't feel hungry.

"Morning Dad." I said as I came into the dinning room where he sat reading yesterday's paper. He looked up at me in shock and a bit of excitement. The month before as I went through a change phase to get Darien's attention, I had woken up early to school for a month but after the incident, I no longer had the strength to keep up and gave up. Seeing me awake this early, it was easy to understand that he was hoping I was back to going to school early and getting good grades. Sorry father but I don't have the strength for that anymore.

"Morning Serena. Your mom will be done with breakfast soon." He said. This is as civilized as he had been to me for the past month since I gave up the one month change.

"Oh, I will just go to school early. I wanted time at the school library."

"But you have to eat something."

"I'm fine, I'm not hungry. I have money on me to buy lunch." I lied. He had stopped giving me allowances too when I reverted back to my old self of going to school late and being a poor student.

"Oh I see, well then be careful."

"Thanks Dad." I walked away before he decided to investigate what I wanted to do at the library so early in the morning. I passed mom who was too busy to notice me and out the front door I left.

The early morning air was cool and crisp but it helped with my breathing. Lately when my chest tightened up from all the sorrows I've been going through, I find cool and crisp air to be the healing touch that allowed me to breath. Walking down the street, I let my mind return to last month's incident.

**Flashback.

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**

As had somehow become custom, every Sunday we met at Lita's house to cook and bake cookies. The 'we' refers to the Inners, Rini and me. But this time the Outers and Darien wanted to join in. I had thought this would be my chance to impress Darien once and for all. So while we were at Lita's house, I wanted to bake cookies that not only looked good but tasted heavenly too.

We baked and Joked about things and I had such high hopes riding on the cookies. Finally when we had all finished baking whatever we were baking, we sat around Lita's living room as she served as teas to go with the baked goods.

"Mmm…Lita this tea smells heavenly." Michelle said, taking a slight sniff at the aroma of the hot tea.

"Thank you. These teas I ordered straight from France."

"You're gold Lita." Rei praised.

"Back home, you would always make these teas for me every time I was down." Rini said and everyone turned to her. The weird thing was that while everyone excluding Trista was fooled, I wasn't. Lita in the future never made this tea for Rini, I don't know how I knew, all I know is that I knew the brat was lying.

"Really Rini?" Lita asked and she nodded. I switched my eyes to the time guardian but she was not looking my direction.

"Yup! Now I'm hungry, let's eat!" Rini cheered.

"Yay!" the others responded.

"So who made what for me?" Darien asked teasingly.

"Well I made chocolate chip cookies and it look and taste good. Serena made sugar cookies but don't be fooled by the look!"

"Excuse me but my turned out great thank you!" I said indignantly.

"I am not even going to touch her cookies! Last time I was in the hospital for a week." Darien said and my stomach drop. I could literally hear my heart breaking and tears stinging my eyes but I held it in.

"But it's really good this time."

"That's what you said last time." Rini said and that was a lie. The last time I had made cookies; my face showed them how bad it was. As they had always said, my emotions always appears on my face, so how can my face twist saying it's disgusting but then I will turn around and lie that it's good?

Darien took one of Rini's cookies and popped it in his mouth. Like a light bulb coming on when an idea forms, his face lit up.

"Mmm. Rini this is fantastic! You get better every time!" he praised and everyone then wanted to taste her cookies. As they ate, complementing the others for their baked goods, I took my out and placed it in a plastic bag. I will take it home, maybe mom will like some. My whole day was ruined; I smiled through an empty heart. We spent like four hours at Lita's just talking or pillow fighting or playing video games. What would have been a great day to me was the day I realized that I had no one who believed in me, no one who wanted to.

When we were ready to leave, I took Darien aside to Lita's verander. I needed to know something. I was tired, tired of running away. Tired of having to camouflage. If he couldn't accept and love me for whom I am, then what was the point of me being with him? Was this how soul mates suppose to be? Enjoy the idea of being together with someone only because that person could never leave you? No, it was enough. He had to choose, it would either be me or Rini.

I remember the time, it was 10 pm and the night was cool but not cold. There was a full silver moon and the stars were out sparkling their brilliance. But when I looked closely at the moon, it seemed to dim, it would be after my whole world was turned upside down would I understand that the dimming of the moonlight was a warning to me. a warning that I shouldn't ask Darien what I was about to because it would lead pain and suffering for me. But back then I didn't know and all I wanted was an assurance that I was still the **most** important person to him.

"Hey Darien, I've got something to ask you." I began.

"Yeah? What is it?" look at me! My mind screamed. He was looking straight ahead at the starlight tower? What was there to see?

"Do you love me?" I closed my eyes. I knew I was a bit blunt but I couldn't help it! I didn't want to beat around the bush, it was the question most hammering in my heart. There was a moment's pause which to me felt like an eternity! What was taking him so long to answer?!

"That's a silly question to ask." He answered and my eyes narrowed, I was getting sick of this nonsense!

"Is it? If it so is, why are you avoiding answering?"

"Because it's stupid."

"Very well, do you love Rini?" he turned to look at me then and raised a brow. I don't know what was going through his head, his eyes were unreadable.

"I don't understand this sudden interrogation but yes, I love her. Happy?" so he could answer in regards to Rini but not about me? Tears please don't fall, please don't! Save me a little dignity! I begged pathetically in my head.

"Between Rini and me, which of us is most important to you?" I asked, not looking at him. if I did the tears would fall.

"Now what kind of stupid question is that?" he sort of snapped.

"A question someone in my position will want an answer to."

"Then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I have no obligation to answer your silly questions." He said and left me out on the veranda alone. Somehow my tears had dried, it was funny but the only thing my lips could do was breathe out and let a small smile cross it. It was as if my heart was somehow relieved, heavy free. A few minutes later I reentered the room. I wasn't going to ride in Darien's car back home and I didn't want the girls asking questions if I asked one of them for a ride. Since they weren't paying attention to me, I just grabbed my bag and tried to walk out. To get out you had to pass the kitchen but as soon as I stepped on the floor, I slipped. On the floor I slid until the fridge saved me when I slid against it.

I looked up to see Rini standing there giggling. My head was throbbing and instead of helping me up, she was standing laughing at me! I looked up and I see her holding ice and look down and I knew what happened. I tripped on ice, ice she had purposely threw on the floor as soon as she saw me at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Rini, why?" was all I could ask. I held the fridge as I tried to stand up.

"Cause its funny?" she said, giggling again. Ok, my boyfriend had just made it perfectly clear that a different girl was most important to him than me. The girl also happens to be a child not yet born, someone who is supposed to be our daughter. Then that same child trips me and hit my head against the fridge and stands there laughing at me? Sorry but I'm no angel to forgive in that moment.

"What the hell is your problem?! Ever since you came into my life everything has gone wrong! You're a curse to me, go back to your time you selfish little bitch!" ok, I snapped, but so would anyone in my situation. Of course, Darien and the girls take this time to pop up at the scene of me yelling at Rini.

"Serena that is going to far!" Darien said, his eyes flaming anger.

"Yeah, what is your problem anyway!?" Lita joined in.

"Serena seriously, you're supposed to be her role model for God's sake!" Rei.

"Serena really, you are really crossing the line." Mina.

"Your jealousy of her is getting in your way of being the adult of the two of you." Amy. And on all the girls let me know their thoughts. But no one asked what had happened to have made me snap. When they finished, I just picked up my bag again and walked out of the room. Took me thirty minutes but I safely walked myself home.

**End of Flashback

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**

That had been the last time I had joined the girls on their Sunday baking spree and none had even come to ask me to come. Of course Darien forgot a date we had because he had taken Rini to an amusement park. But when I asked him about it, instead of admitting to forgetting, he told me that there would be no more dates until I apologized to Rini. People make the mistake of thinking that I am soft hearted and would do whatever they say just to keep the peace but those people are wrong. Even someone like me who has nothing still has her pride.

**Author's pov**

Lost in her grievance thoughts, Serena came into hard contact with a warm chest. She stumbled down. Immediately her heart sped up, thinking it was the one person she always bumped into. She didn't look up and closed her eyes, waiting for the insult that always came after a collision.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry; I did not mean to hurt you on purpose." Serena's eyes snapped opened. She looked up and stared into the most beautiful golden eyes she had ever seen. Not only was this man not Darien, he looked nothing like Darien! His voice was totally different from Darien's too. The man was probably Darien's height and frame but in all honesty he looked more handsome than the prince of earth. His hair was the only resemblance to Darien by its dark black color yet his hair was long and reached his waist. His face was masked with concern for her. The two stared at each other, like lovers entrapped in each others eyes. Serena couldn't tear her eyes off of him, he was gorgeous yet there was something there in his face that tapped her gaze on him. A sort of melancholy that called to her own lonely heart as soon as their gazes had locked.

The man in question also seemed to be equally captivated by her, her blue sky eyes swallowed him up. Unconsciously, he reached down and cupped her cheeks. The smoothness of the skin against his own made him gasp, bringing both of them out of their star struck gaze. He swiftly withdrew his hand and finally set free of his mesmerizing golden eyes, Serena looked away. She was blushing and her heat was thundering in her chest. This was a feeling she hadn't had in a long time. The thudding of her heart, the instant blushing and being lost in someone's eyes, this had all be the symptoms she had known as being in love with Darien. And she still was in love with her prince so why was the symptoms directed at someone else? Why was her heart beating so hard for a totally stranger, why was she wishing that he had kissed her when he cupped her cheeks?! She groaned.

"Um…Excuse me miss?" he said. Finally his voice penetrated the loud noise of her heart beat which she wished he couldn't hear. His voice was deep, gentle and velvet honey and it was definitely not helping her traitorous heart. She felt her heart respond to the voice as if commanded. Her gaze was drawn back to him and she saw his hand extended to her.

"I'm sorry to have bumped into you like that." he said. She finally snapped out of her daze. He was apologizing for bumping into her even though it had all been her fault for daydreaming? She was so used to hearing Darien's criticism that having someone apologized to her for bumping into each other seemed like a miracle.

"Oh no, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She reached up and took his hand. Immediately, electricity so powerful, so strong struck the both of them. The man staggered back a little as Serena's vision blurred.

_Why? Why do I feel like I know him? Why does he seem to have power over my heart? Why in a matter of seconds I am attracted to him like no one else?_ These questions passed through her head before she completely passed out.

Composing himself, the man looked at the pass out girl on the floor. What was that electricity? Why was she so beautiful and what was with the power she seemed to hold over him. Gingerly he brought his hand down, softly running his fingers over her cheeks. He could still feel the sparks of electricity but it was not as strong as the touch of the hand. He was mesmerized by her beauty and the voice she had used to talk to him. How could one sound so amazing? Like the beauty of spring? The energy of summer? The variety of fall and the coolness of winter? These seasoned analogies were the only way he could use to describe the beautiful sound of her voice. And her eyes, so bright yet wrong. There were odd areas of dark indigo blue, dark areas he could only interpret as sadness. Somehow he felt her eyes should be completely crystalline sky blue with specks of silver. So why the sadness? And her flawless skin, smooth and fragile. Her lovely scent of vanilla and lavender. This was a rare piece of the female race he had never met before and he was fascinated by her.

"What do I do now?" he asked, looking around for some help. But it was early morning and the street was deserted.

"You pick her up and follow me." he looked up at the direction the voice was coming from. An eagle with majestic gold and crimson wings was suspended over his head flapping its wings.

"Flavius." The man called in surprise to the bird.

"Alexander, pick her up and follow me to the park." The bird called Flavius said to the man who was apparently named Alexander.

"Why the park?" Alex asked.

"Because there isn't anywhere else. Going into a restaurant with a fainted girl will lead to too much trouble. Take her to the bench you always sit at in the park and rest her head on your lap. She will wake up eventually." Flavius advised. Without another question, Alexander picked Serena up and began walking to the park.

When he arrived at the park, his eyes danced at the scene. The park was a place Alex had always felt relax and certain. It felt like a home to him, the only place he felt belong ever since he woke up with no memories of who or what he was. He especially loved being there in the early morning because it was fresh and undisturbed by humans. It was a small park, more like a flower garden with flowers everywhere though beautifully designed. There was small pond, a few trees and trails that led to other extended part of the park. One particular hidden trail led the a field of roses he had planted himself and by the side of the beautiful petal flowers was a white wooden bench under a sort of umbrella stand that at the moment was folded down.

The eagle flew to the gate of the rose garden and opened it up for Alexander to get through before locking it back again. He then flew passed them and unlocked the bench from being hidden under the umbrella which was to keep the bench safe and clean from any weather, especially rain and snow in the winter.

Using one hand, Alexander held Flavius open the latches to the bench. When there was enough space to put Serena through and on the bench, he did so before using his two hands to lift up the latches to fall by the sides. Finally done, he sat down on the bench and placed Serena's head on his thigh. The eagle flew away.

Sitting there waiting for the girl to wake up, Alex looked around him. The flowers were beautiful, all colors of roses were there. Yellow, pink, blue, red, orange, Peach, Lavender, white and really dark maroon that almost seems black. Missed colored roses and all but his favorite rose color were the white ones for what they represented. The symbolism of Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, youthfulness and heavenly. To put it simply, it was a way of saying I am worthy of you, which was why traditionally it was always associated with marriages and new beginnings.

"Do I have a white rose?" Alexander asked himself quietly. With no memories, he had no idea of what was in his past; he was twenty two years which as he had found out was a reasonable age to have what was considered a girlfriend. Had he had one? The only thing he knew was his age and name and only because that was what Flavius told him. Who was he really? Did he have any siblings? Any woman that had been special to him? Had he had a white rose among all the rainbow roses of the earth? Alexander saw females like colorful roses. And to everyman, there is only one white rose among the colorful roses that is meant for him. Until a man has found his white rose, every other rose are colors endless possibilities for others. One man's white rose is just a color to another man.

Looking down at Serena's sleeping face he wondered if he had just found his white rose or if she was already someone else's rose.

After thirty minutes of consideration, he felt a stir on his lap. Sharply his gaze fell on sleeping beauty. She was trying to stretch but the position she was in was restricting her movements. Her face creased and suddenly here eyes opened in alarm. She sat up quickly, looking around at where she was before her eyes fell on Alexander. She stared at him before a memory of what had happened clicked in her brain.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said, standing up. He stared at her blinked and began chuckling.

"No problem, please sit down." He said patting the spot where she had been sitting before. She sat down sheepishly and turned questioning eyes on her.

"You fainted earlier so I brought you here to recover."

"Oh I see. I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble."

"It's quite alright. I had fun listening to you snore." He teased and she blushed crimson as she tried to hide her face.

"I don't snore…I think." She murmured and he laughed again.

"No you don't. My name is Alexander, what's yours?" he asked.

"Serena Tsukino. Please to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine Serena." He replied. They sat quietly together, suddenly nervous.

"Um…Serena, what were you doing so early in the morning?" he asked.

"Well I was heading to scho….School!" with a panic she stood up. He looked at her dressing and recognized the outfit as from Jubban High.

"I'm so sorry but I have to get to school. I'll be late!" she said, turning to run away. Something fell out of her bag but she didn't notice as she ran her hundred meter dash to her school.

But Alex noticed and picked it up. It was a school ID with her picture, Name and grade level printed on it.

"12TH Grade at Jubban High. I guess she will need this." he said and got up to leave.

Up on the moon, Queen Serenity watched the encounter between Alexander and Serena with narrowed eyes. She couldn't be sure what Crescentius meant about already having a plan in motion, anything at this point was questionable.

* * *

Read and Review!^^


	3. Chapter 3 Modeling Sisters

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

**Chapter Three – Modeling Sisters**

**Serena's pov**

Oh great! Just perfect! Sighing, I tried to disappear from the face of the earth. Why was this happening to me? It was humiliating enough that I didn't check myself before getting into the lunch line but to be stuck unable to pay for my food with the whole school looking at me was mortifying. I clearly remember picking up my ID but when I need it the most, it just happens to have disappeared on me. I had arrived in school on time, ignored as always by the girls but I had managed to pay attention to Ms. Haruna to avoid detention. Only to come to lunch to face such embarrassment. I give up, whoever is up there against me, you win.

"I can pay for you if you want, you can pay me later." I turned around to stare at Molly who had offered to pay for my lunch. In her eyes I saw the pity but not the sympathy. How had I been so reduced to a pitiful person?

"No thanks." I could still have some dignity couldn't I?

"Then pay for your lunch or leave it." The cafeteria lady said. I liked the old cafeteria lady; she was nicer and wouldn't have made such a big deal of things. But the other one had retired last week and this bitter seeming cook had taken her place. Really, did I have no ally or friends out there?

"LOOK!" Someone screamed and we all turned to her but she was pointing at something at the window. We looked at the window and saw a bird. On blinking, I realized it was an eagle. What was an eagle doing at this part of Tokyo? We watched in fascination as the eagle flew in on its majestic crimson gold wings. It soured gently around as if searching for something but its gaze sharpened when it caught my attention. It was as if I was the center of his focus. It was then I saw it had a paper in its beak with a single white rose. He flew directly at me, the people around me ducking for cover but I was unafraid for some reason. Two inches from my face it came to a sudden stop and pointed the beak at me. Obviously the flower and paper was meant for me.

I opened my hand and he dropped the letter and rose in my hand. I blinked, where had I seen such a beautiful white rose before? Looking at the paper, I realized it was an envelope. Wearily, I opened it. There was a hush in the room as all attention was focused on me. Opening the envelope, I found inside my ID and a piece of paper. My eyes grew big. I looked up at the eagle and it squeaked a little, pointing its beak to the paper in my hands. I unfolded the piece of paper and read its content to myself.

_Forgot something?_

_It fell from your bag when you dashed off so I gave it to Flavius, my eagle to bring it to you. I hope though that he recognize you and not give to a total stranger. Anyway…I was wondering if you would like to hang out sometimes. I know I'm being too forward but I'm sort of new here and haven't made any friends so if it's ok with you, I'd like if you were my first friend. I hope the late delivery of your ID has not caused you any mishap. If perhaps you will like to well…to hang out with me, will it be alright if I pick you up from your school? If it's not ok then I totally understand. Please tell your answer to Flavius, he will be able to convey it to me. Thank you._

_A hopeful friend,_

_Alexander._

The letter read. He went through the trouble of sending back my ID just when I needed it and he seemed harmless enough, I saw no reason to not want to be friends.

"Flavius, tell him I would be delighted if he picked me up from school." I told the eagle. It let out a loud squeak which I somehow understood as happiness. It flew around my head twice, on the third it landed on my shoulders and touched its hard and firm beak against my cheeks. I understood it as a thank you. I don't know why I was able to understand its gestures but I had no doubt I was interpreting it all correctly. With one louder cry, it jumped into the air, unfolded it wings and flew out of the cafeteria through the window. I touched my cheek with a smile, as soon as it beaked touched my skin; I felt the same electricity I felt when I and Alexander touched. I didn't know what it meant to have an electrical vibe which we identify as attraction with an animal; all I knew is that I felt I was in good hands. That I was not making a mistake in wanting to know this strange duo. And while I argue that it's because of his kindness in returning my ID that makes me want to know them, deep inside I knew better. For better or for worse, I was attracted to Alexander and his eagle companion, though not in the same way but nonetheless, I felt we were connected by something far greater than can be imagine.

**Author's pov**

The school day passed sooner than she expected. After the eagle incident, it seems the whole school became her friend. At every corner she was being asked what that was all about and she kept having to dodge questions. She knew the scouts were interested in knowing too but they did not come to ask her. Even Molly who was dying of curiosity couldn't find the nerve for it.

Yet what people noted for the first time in a month or two was the shine in her eyes. Her lip was no longer straight or in a frown but was smiling. Her steps had a bounce in it and she was giggling. This side of her had disappeared from them for a while and they were warmed to have it back. Even Miss Haruna commented on it.

Finally the last bell rung for school to be dismissed. She rushed to her locker and picked up whatever she needed, then into the bathroom to make sure her appearance was somewhat presentable. She had no make up with her but that would have to do. In the shadows the scouts followed her, wanting to see just who this mysterious man was and if perhaps he might be of a reason to be concern.

"Serena!" She heard someone scream her name. She exited the bathroom to be met with five excited classmates.

"What is it Miki?" She asked the girl who grabbed her hand.

"There is this really hot guy outside who asked for you!" Inwardly her heart ascended into her mouth. She was dragged along by the classmates until the exit.

"Let me catch my breath." She told them.

"You have got to tell me if he has a brother!" one of the girls said.

"Sorry Nikki, I barely know him. I just met him today." Serena confessed, her cheeks red from excitement.

"Well whatever the case, he is a catch so hold on to him ok." They all turned their head and saw to see who said that.

"Sonoko-sama!" They screamed. The older girl with long curly locks of light and dark green hair stared at Serena with a soft look.

"But Serena already has a boyfriend." Nikki said.

"Serena, there is some people who come into your life only for a season and others who come to stay for eternity. Choose the right one because I know you have the power to do so. Let not your fear of what others will say cause you the biggest mistake of your life. Besides, when all is gone, I want you to know you still have a friend in me." Sonoko said and took out a card. She took Serena's hand and dropped the card in her hand and folded her hand over it.

"Keep that a secret and good luck." She walked away with Serena and her classmate staring after her.

"Wow, Sonoko-sama is really sophisticated." One of the five girls commented.

"Wow Serena, when did you and Sonoko-sama become so close?" This Serena had no answer for. As far as she knew, they had only had one interaction in her life and that was when the Star Lights were over. At the time, Sonoko had been jealous of Serena's relationship with the Star Lights and had challenged Serena to a softball match. Thanks to Seiya's coaching, Serena had managed to win the challenge. The bad feeling between the two of them had dissolved but that had been the only time Serena had had any contact with Sonoko who had at the time been a junior. Now she was a senior and school would but letting out soon.

"Wow, she is so mature." Nikki said, her eyes filled with admiration.

"Yeah."

"Oh my goodness! Get going Serena!" Miki pushed her ahead. She looked back to see them raising a thumbs up at her. She smiled gratefully and walked out of the school building.

"Does she know you think?" Nikki asked.

"Of course she should! He is one of the biggest celebrities out there!" Miki answered.

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Serena felt nervous with so many gazes on her as she walked toward the sleek, glossy looking convertible. The door of the driver's side opened and the eagle from earlier flew out. It turned sharply to face her and speed up in her direction. Close enough it came to a stop and flew more gently onto her shoulder.

"Hello Flavius." She said softly and it gave a squeak of greeting in return. She smiled fondly at the fierce yet gentle predator of the sky. This was no ordinary eagle. Serena lifted her face up and her breath caught in her throat as Alexander's smiling, serene face fill in her vision. He looked so handsome and dressed nicely and black pants and white Chinese shirt with a red dragon printed on it. The dragon was one of those snake like dragons, it head rested on one shoulder as its tail rested on the other shoulder and his scaly body was intricately draw across the shirt and the back of it. He had moved to stand by the front passenger seat. He looked confident, not over confident though yet a fidgeting of his hand gave away his nervousness. Seeing that gave her the confidence to ran the rest of the way to him.

"Good afternoon Alexander." She greeted cheerfully and the smile on his face brightened. This he hadn't expected but this he liked.

"Good Afternoon Serena." A silence of nervousness lapsed between them as they did all to avoid each other's gaze. This was very nerve wracking.

"Um…Shall we go?" He finally asked opening the door for her. She looked up and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not certain. I'm too new here to know anywhere. How about you take me around? We will go anywhere you like." He said instead.

"Mmmm…ok." She replied before stepping into the car. He closed it gently behind her. He drove off amidst the staring eyes of the students. Some had watched the scene with green eyes of jealousy, others had watched with envy while others made not of how to steal the guy from the clumsy Serena. But from the shadow of the exit of school building, the scouts and Molly had watched with surprise and worry. Mina especially, for her heart was telling her something that shouldn't be possible, especially since Serena was Darien's soul mate.

"What are we to do?" She asked them with worry.

"Nothing, I mean if Darien hadn't been able to put up with her, why would a hot guy like this fella put up with her?" Lita said.

"Surely there is an explanation for everything. We just have to confront Serena and ask her about it."

"I agree." Melvin said walking up to the group. Mina felt sick to her stomach. She knew the others wouldn't feel it; they were not as in tune with emotions as she was and she had felt something she was still struggling to understand. One thing she knew for sure, the guy was or would be a large part of Serena's heart, if not her life. And whether it was good or bad, time would answer all questions. Still she felt it was safer to investigate now than later. She would have to contact Trista and Rei, something was not right!

"You do know that that guy is right now the hottest male celebrity right? I fear what we will soon have to face." she said. While Molly and Melvin looked at her with confusion, something in her voice told Amy and Lita that there was more to her words. More, meaning sailor soldiers involvement. Yet reviewing the scene of Serena and Alexander, they could see no reason to worry. Mina was just paranoid.

***********************************************************************************************************************

The silence inside the car was rather uncomfortable. Neither knew what to say. The occasional directions Serena pointed out were the only voice of communication. Flavius got tired of it. In the back seat it began squeaking and the squeak only grew louder.

"Flavius, cut the noise down." Alexander said to the bird who completely ignored him. Driving to the side, he brought the car to a stop and turned to his bird.

"Flavius, what's wrong?" Serena watched the frantic bird with surprise. What was wrong with him?

"What's happening?" she asked Alexander who turned to look at him with a look of worry. If it had been anyone else, they would have been embarrassed but he felt no embarrassment, except concern for his normally sane bird who was throwing itself against the sides of the car. He tried to lift it up but flavius retaliated with its beak. Serena unlocked her seat belt and got out of the car. She opened the back passenger seat and as the bird threw itself to her side of the seat; she caught him and brought him against her breast. She cooed and hushed him with sweet words and he stilled, resting its head on her chest. Serena sighed; she had been greatly disturbed thinking the bird was suffering. She looked up and blushed by the intensity of Alexander's gaze on her.

"Um..." she begun but she was speechless. When was the last time Darien had stared at her as if she was the only one in the world? How long had it been since she had seen a look of adoration on Darien's face as she was seeing on this complete stranger. It kindled her heart, to think maybe she hadn't lost all her attractive features to still hold a man's attention.

"Wow." Alexander said. Serena looked at him curiously. "There have been instance where he would go off like that and he doesn't allow anyone to touch him. Even he tries to peck me when I do but with you, he instantly cooled down. He even landed on your shoulder at his own accord, that doesn't happen often. And the only times it does is mostly when it is making fun of people. He prefers my shoulders only, at least he did before." He smiled at her with glowing eyes and Serena realized how privilege she was to have such a magnificent bird take a liking to her.

"He is beautiful." She commented, stroking the eagle gently on its forehead as it had fallen asleep.

"That he is. And so are you." it slipped out before he could control his tongue but when he did, he was not embarrass by it. She blushed and ducked her head.

"You don't need to hide your face you know." He said but she still wouldn't look up. She was pleased he thought her beautiful. How long had she heard such an encouraging compliment from Darien?

"Serena." Startled, she looked up to find him before her. How had he moved so swiftly and silently? He put his finger underneath her chin and stared into her eyes.

"I don't know how often you've been told you are beautiful but you are. More so than the sun at sunset, more so than the ocean at its clearest, the rainbow in its brightest. I'm sure you have had poetries speak of you, but I am only a man who can speak the truth within me. I speak no poetry nor do I sing songs. I can only tell you that you are beautiful and hope my words are differentiate from others." He said and tears swelled in her eyes. His eyes widened.

"Oh no Serena, I sincerely didn't mean to make you upset!" he apologized, upset that he had Serena said. She shook her head and covered her eyes with the hand free from holding Flavius.

"No…It's not you." she sniffled. "It's just…it's been so long since anyone was so nice to me." She said and he looked at her in surprise. Was it possible? From his first glance of her he had supposed she was loved by all, was it possible that even an angle could be hated?

"Mmm…what can we do to cheer you up?" he asked, his face a reflection of his pondering.

She laughed.

"Oh don't worry about it. I just get emotional too quickly."

"Do you like to shop Serena?"

"Yes. Why?" A big boyish smile brightened his face. "Come on!" He said, taking a hold of her hand and gently but swiftly moving her back to her seat in the car. She sat down and twisted her body to face him as he got into his seat. She raised her brow at him and he grinned.

"I have a perfect place for us to go!" he said.

"And that would be?"

"Nuh ah! It's a secret."

"Awwwww." Serena whined and he chuckled.

"You will like it, I promise." He winked at her. She shook her head with a smile. Alexander had made her smile in a day more than she had in a month or two. He was funny and energetic and very much a child. But he was good hearted, the same kind of heart she had within her. She feared for him, because it was people like her that others took advantage off. Would the same happen to him? The idea repulsed her! From the corner of her eyes, she watched him.

She wondered what twist of fate had sent him into her life when her last strength was at its end. Was this a friendship to last or would it be as stifling as her relationship with her other friends?

"Serena?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think our meeting was fate?" he asked. She looked at him, ready to laugh but the look on his face and the darkened shade of his eyes made her pause. She had stopped believing in fate and destiny, but if this encounter was the works of those two, she would take no part in it.

"I hope not. I seriously hope not!" the hard edge in her voice took away a bit of the hurt he felt.

"Why is that?"

"Because supernatural fate of fortune never comes without a price to pay. And most often times, the price overwhelms the reward. I'd rather make my own fate and destiny than have it made for me." Nothing in this world ever came without a price, but some rewards are never worth the price.

Looking at her pinched face, Alexander figured she had a real reason to have said something like that. Fate, destiny…was it worth it to sit around hoping one of the two would grant a pardon for a life worth living? He looked at her face when they stopped at the red traffic light.

"You are right. So, will you create fate and destiny with me?" he asked cheekily.

"Do I have a choice?" he laughed and drove off. They traveled in silence but it was a comfortable silence unlike before. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at their destination. Serena blinked, this part of time she scarcely ever comes.

"What are we doing in Plastic City?" he looked at her.

"Plastic City?" he asked, confused. As far as he knew, the place was called La ville du Solace, the most beautiful part of Jubban.

"Because this place is so freaking clean and so beautiful that it's been called plastic City for a long time. Also you have to be pretty rich to live here and there were some people who used to live here and claimed everyone within this place were fake. I think it was them whom nicknamed this place as Plastic City." Serena explained and he listened. Listened attentively to her like none has for so long. As if what she had to say was important. She was grateful for his sensitivity.

"Well there's a story I haven't heard." He said before taking her hand. "Shall we?"

"To where?" He smiled and turned her around.

"Rainbow?"

"Yes." She looked at him as if he was crazy. "What's wrong?"

"Do you have any idea just how expensive Rainbow is? A simple skirt cost nearly a thousand!" he laughed at her then.

"Well I do agree that Rainbow is expensive."

"Besides the fact that I didn't come with any money." Serena added. But then sighed, she had no money. Her father had stopped giving her allowances so long ago.

"Lets go." He said again and held her hand firmer. Together they walked to the store, completely unaware of the stares. They welcomed the cool air in the store as soon as the sliding doors opened. The next door could only be open by exclusive members with a card. Much like Sam's Club. Alexander took out his card and slid it down the slot and the automatic doors opened. This was Serena's first time in the big mall. She gasped at the scene before her, every wall, every corner and every shelf was covered head to toe with rainbows of clothing, shoes and so much more. A long table nearly covered the entire front of the store where the cashier was. There was enough space for people to walk out with merchandise though.

"Wow."

"I take it this is your first time here then."

"This place was opened like a year ago. I tried to come here then but the rules were you had to buy a hundred dollar card before you can get in. It was a great disappointment." She said.

"Well then, today will be my treat." She looked up at him hopefully and they approached the cashier who was watching them with an odd look.

"Good Afternoon Cassandra." Alexander greeted amiably. He leaned up and kissed her on the check.

"You seem to be in a good mood Xander."

"I met a special friend today." He said and Serena's heart flipped flopped on the word 'special'.

"So I see. Hi, my name is Cassandra. It's a pleasure." The woman said kindly. She had a gentle look to her eyes and she was smiling.

"Um…yes, my name is Serena Tsukino, nice to meet you too." Serena flustered. Being by such a beautiful woman made her feel so…well… incomparable. The lady was beautiful with shoulder length chestnut curly hair with light highlights and really dark eyes. She had the slender built of a model but very curveous and the classic beauty of old which suited her well.

She chuckled at Serena's fluster.

"Relax princess, I don't bite. At least not you." Cassandra said. Being called princess made Serena blush. She knew Cassandra had no idea that she was indeed a princess but it was still nice for someone outside the know to view her as such.

"So Xander, what can I do for you?"

"Serena is here to shop. I will help anyway I can but I have no idea what I can do to help."

"Oh step aside and let me take care of her." Cassandra said, putting her hand around Serena's shoulders and taking off into the isles. Alexandra took over the register knowing full well that Serena was in good hands.

**********************************************************************************************************************

"Oh my Serena, you look gorgeous in colors of pink and gold!" Cassandra praised and Serena blushed. They went through series of outfits and shoes, showing them to Alexandra to hear his opinions. Serena loved all the clothes Cassandra chose for her, it was mature yet fun. She also taught her where she should go with what outfit. She also saw that Alex and Cassandra were very close and they joked with each others so friendlily. Inside, a part of her was jealous by the ease the two shared but she stifled it. She already had someone and she wasn't the kind of girl to cheat on her man. Even if her so called man doesn't give a crap about her.

After she had tried on so many clothes, she finally dropped.

"Not even the girls have ever worked me on shopping this much." She confessed and Cassandra laughed.

"It's not over yet."

"What?!?" The scared look on her face made Cassandra laugh even more. "Come on." She reached out for Serena who tiredly grabbed it and followed the older woman through several doors and ended up in a salon.

"Maeve!" Cassandra called.

"What's up love, I'm at the back." A voice answered. The voice had an European accent and sounded mature despite the casual greeting.

"I've got a very special customer for you."

"Ooooohhh, special. How so?"

"She is special to Xander." Whatever Maeve was doing, she seemed to have stopped since the noise she had been making went absolutely silent. Seconds later a beautiful aqua waist length haired woman, as tall, slender, curveous and graceful as Cassandra walked out to meet them. She stared at Serena as if seeing a ghost.

"Maeve, meet Serena." Cassandra said but there was an edge to her voice. Maeve came out of her stunt stare and brought her hand out to shake. Serena graciously accepted and shook the hand.

"Pleased to meet you mam." Serena said softly.

"And you too Princess." Maeve said, working to overcome her bewilderment. Serena giggled.

"What?" Maeve asked blinking.

"Sorry." She said blushing. "It's just that Miss Cassandra called me that too."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Cassandra cut in. "Can you take care of her hair. Serena, how long can you stay out?"

"Oh no! I have to call mom!"

"Let me call your mother, I will tell her that I'm tutoring you." Cassandra said.

"Sure, my number is ************"

"Good, Maeve will take good care of you." Cassandra left and Maeve directed Serena to a chair.

"Serena, how often do you treat your hair?" Maeve asked.

"I wash it every night before I go to sleep."

"I see." She took Serena's hair out of the bun and ran her fingers through it.

"You have good hair texture. I will trim it a little ok."

"Um…sure…" she didn't sound so sure.

"It's alright princess. I won't cut it; just trim it to look nice."

"Ok." The hair process was silent. Cassandra came back in to inform Serena that her mother said she could stay up to ten. She was surprised to find that the time was 6. After the hair was done, Serena was not allowed to look in the mirror. Cassandra picked out a dress and shoes for hair and the two women went about dressing her up. Serena was very surprised and confused, why was she being dressed up but she found she liked the care they were giving her.

Finally, when the make up and the dress up were finished, she was blindfolded and walked back to the front of the store. She heard an in catch of breath and she wondered if it was Alex who gasped.

Alexander was stunned! Before he had compared her to an angle but no, she was the goddess herself. She was sexy yet had this air of innocence about her. He took both her hands in his own.

"Oh Serena, you look absolutely gorgeous. Even Aphrodite will question her place as the most beautiful woman in existence if she were to see you now." He said sincerely. Serena blushed to the root of her hair. She was pleased with the comment which made it all the more unbearable not being able to see herself.

"Thank you." she said.

"Well then, shall we?"

"Where to?"

"I thought by now you would stop asking me that." he said with a chuckle and she giggled. She turned back to face where she supposed the two older women were and bent from waist up.

"Thank you so much. I can't see myself yet I feel a confidence that I haven't felt in so long. I am really indebted to you and I will forever be grateful for your kindness." She said and Cassandra smiled. Maeve on the other hand looked pained. Impulsively, she drew Serena into a tight embrace. Cassandra sighed, pain on her face as well.

Alexandra was totally lost, was it really that hard to say goodbye to Serena even though they had known her just a few hours? He who had known these girls for a year, ever since he woke up in their house a year ago with loss memory had not seen these girls attach themselves to anything. In fact, they were so exclusive that sometimes they appeared snobbish which they weren't. They were in a class of their own, raised with manners of a lady yet strong physically as well as emotionally. They were free spirited, did things the way they wanted despite what anyone had to say and lived life in their own ways. They had a tight family with several other girls and he was their brother as far as he knew since he woke up with lost memories. Every one of them in their family had been a model, still is a model and four of them a supermodel in the US. These girls enjoyed life of luxury yet they made sure they earned that life themselves. Alex had come to love the girls unconditionally, they were his family.

Yet at times, their eyes reflected a sadness and loneliness they hide behind a smile and no one has ever been able to discover the meaning of those emotions. Or why there are there in the first place. What secrets hid within these girls? Time will tell.

He had worried bringing Serena to meet them on his first day of meeting her yet he knew that if his sisters couldn't accept her, then Serena would have no part in his life. For some reason, they had an uncanny ability to predict girls who came into his life for a season and girls worth keeping. And they had always said, "Time will lead you to the princess of your heart. Be patience for your white rose is soon to come." Never once had these girls called anyone princess, so as soon as Cassandra called Serena that, his heart roused. Was she the one then?

Now looking at them having a hard time saying goodbye to Serena, he was without a doubt that Serena was worth keeping yet at the same time, he sensed there was more to it than it appeared on the surface.

"You're beautiful Serena. Beautiful on the inside and outside, no matter what anyone says, believe in yourself. I hope this is a beginning of a real lasting friendship with you. If ever you need anything, just come to us ok?" Maeve said after she drew back from the hug. Serena felt so warm and tears soaked the blindfold.

"Thank you." she chocked out. She had met these people only a day and yet they had managed to do what the scouts and Darien had never been able to do, or more accurately what they had destroyed. These three gentle people whom she sense a sadness and hope from had given her back a bit of confidence.

"Have a wonderful evening with Xander and hopefully you can join us for dinner tomorrow?" Cassandra said hopefully.

"I'd be delighted."

"Great!" a big watery smile broke into Maeve's pained face. She somewhat looked lonely, like a lost little girl.

"Well then, we best be on our way." Alexander said, taking a hold of her hand.

"Thank you once again." Serena said before being guided away. Cassandra and Maeve watched her until she disappeared from view before their expressions turned serious.

"Do you think she will make the right choice?" Maeve asked.

"I hope so; I hope you do Serenity, for your sake as well as ours."

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"Oh my gosh, they were so nice!" Serena said and Alexander laughed, finally the shadows of worry for his sisters vanishing from his eyes.

"Well they are who they are. My sisters can be a bit intimidating at times but they are the best people in the world!"

"Sisters?" Serena asked in confusion.

"Yes, Cassandra and Maeve are my sisters." Serena gasped at the information. No wonder they seemed to close!

"Oh my, but you look nothing alike!"

"So we are told every time people find out we are siblings."

"Well then you have awesome sisters!"

"Why thank you."

"And they get to work at that place." She sighed. "I would do anything to have assessed there often." He laughed and she glanced unseeingly at him.

"Serena, that store belongs to my sisters."

"No way!"

"Yes way." He glanced at her and laughed harder at her hanging mouth. He could only guess how her eyes looked like in her surprise as the blindfold blocked her eyes.

"Wow." She said.

"Well since it seems I'm not the only one who liked you, you are welcome to the store anytime."

"Really? You think they liked me?" She asked hopefully.

"Absolutely! They loved you. Which is really strange."

"Why is that?"

"Because normally they are very…how do I say this, they don't allow outsiders into our circle. We are a very close and intimate family. I have other sisters too. And especially, they don't allow girls that hang out with me to get too close. Mostly they scare the girls away." He chuckled. Serena tried to imagine her new found friends capable of chasing someone away but she couldn't. They just seemed so nice, so polite it was impossible to see them otherwise.

"You don't have any brothers then?"

"I kind off…" he trailed off and Serena let it go

"They felt…warm. Yet I thought they were a little sad."

"Yes, I thought so too but I don't really know the cause of it."

"Maybe they are having boy trouble?"

"As far as I'm concern, their relationships with the 'boys' are ok." Alexander said, his voice tight. Serena noted it but didn't question it.

"Maybe you should ask them what's wrong."

"I have before but their answers were too cryptic to make sense of. They've always been like that."

"I see. Come to think of it, where is Flavius?"

"Probably off causing mischief somewhere else." Alexander said with a roll of his eyes. Serena just giggled.

They arrived at their destination. He parked before walking to her side and taking both her hands in his. Serena stepped out and shivered a little at the cold air. He noticed the shiver and put an arm around her since he had no coat to offer. The weird thing was that as soon as his hand was around her, she was warm, as if held in a protective blanket.

"Can I see now?" She said and he grinned.

"Not yet my lady." They walked into the building and the aroma of delicious spices and food greeted them.

"Oh my." Serena said and he removed the blindfold.

"Welcome to Rainbow Stones." Serena gasped, eyes wide as she stared into the beautifully decorated and exclusive restaurant. Like Rainbow the store, this was a formal restaurant specialized in foods all over the world. In other to eat here, one has to be a member or a member of the store. The foods cost fortunes but they were well cause the price to eat there. No other restaurant could match them.

He took her hand and steered her into the interior. She wasn't even aware that she was moving, so lost in her admiration and fascination of the building and it designs. She saw decorations of China, Japan, France, and many countries as well as flags. Yet what caught her eyes was the chandelier, it was odd. It was shaped like a crescent moon and on the lower arch of it had stones set in different colors. From where she stood, she couldn't make out the number of stones yet she was certain it was almost equal nine or ten of them.

He gently steered her to a candlelit hallway and Serena noticed that there were many doors to rooms. There were so many exotic paintings it took her breath away. Finally they branch of to the right and then to the left and came to the only door in that hall. It was when they stopped that her gaze returned to Alexander once more. She watched him as he took his key out and slide it into the card slot. The door opened and Serena gasped in delight. Before her was a room encased in mirrors, and her reflection finally caught her eyes.

"Welcome to Paradise, Serena." He said softly and took her hand before gently stepping into the room. The door closed behind them. In the center of the room was a table with two chairs. He pulled out one for her before sitting opposite of her. She turned her head, looking into one mirror then the next; unable to believe she was that sexy lady the mirror reflected. Words stuck in her throat, her eyes were wide as she turned to him. He read the question in her eyes.

"Yes Serena, you are that beautiful." He said softly with a smile and she gulped. Never had she considered herself past cute or pretty. With Rei and Mina around, she had never thought she could match them in look wise. But this girl, this reflection of her was a work of art and one Mina and Rei could never match!

"Beautiful, please. I'm sexy!" she said and the two burst out laughing.

"Yes you are." His eyes were dark as he stared at her. She was trapped by invisible bonds and she found it really hard to breath with his stare so intently on her. Flash of kissing his firm looking lips and something else passed through her mind's eyes and she blushed. Her back unconsciously straightened and her chest stood straight, as if prompt by his stare.

_This is not good!_

She thought as warning bells rung crazily through her head. These feelings, they were different from when she had been absolutely crazy about Darien yet they were the same. She had always been attracted to Darien, but with Alex, it wasn't just attraction. She found it wasn't just her heart involved with the attraction, her body's reaction would testify to that.

A silent knock interrupted the two of them.

"Enter." Alexander said and Serena couldn't help but see him as a dark lord. The intensity in his golden eyes was still there and she could see the struggle in him to look away but it was almost a loosing battle. She knew then that she had as strong a hold on him as he on her. She didn't know if it was a good thing or bad but it pleased her immensely. In that moment she wanted to forget everything and kiss the daylight out of him.

The door slid open and finally Alexander was able to look away to the waitress walking inside. She sighed in relief and disappoint and her back returned to it lax position.

"Good evening Xander." Serena looked at the woman and she immediately guessed she was another sister. She had the same built as the other two from the shopping mall, slender yet curveous with big bobs and bottom yet slender and a flat stomach to the waist. And her legs were long and as beautiful as the other girls. She had light honey eyes and chest long curly sandy blond hair. Much like Amara's color but shinier. She had a little, more harder glance when she looked at Serena but it melted away to be replaced by an adoring smile.

"Pleased to meet you Serena, My name is Alexandra. Our sisters just called me and gave me the brief about you." she said.

"She is the second oldest after Cassandra." Alexander explained. Serena roused to her feet and bowed a little.

"Nice to meet you Miss Alexandra."

"Don't be so formal with me. Relax and enjoy yourself." She said.

"Thank you." Serena sat back down and watched as both Alex's joked and teased about something. There was a harmonies aura the two had and she was content to sit and watch. Finally they turned their attention back to her.

"So what would you like to eat? Have you glanced at the menu yet?"

"Not yet." She picked it up and looked through. The first groups of foods were under the country France, then China, Japan, US and so on and so fort. The Menu was a bit heavier with lots of pages and an introduction page listing the countries they had foods from and what page to find it at. Serena was baffled.

"Give us the house special today." Alexander said instead.

"That would be Indian. Serena?"

"It's fine. I can't choose with all these foods!" they laughed.

"Well I shall be back in no time; in the mean time I will have them bring some wine."

"Oh, I'm too young for alcohol." Serena said quickly and Alexandra smiled.

"We believe that there is no age what so ever that is appropriate for drinking wine of alcohol. Its fruit wine and alcohol free. All our wines are like that unless specially ordered." Alexandra informed.

"Then please, I will have some wine."

"Coming right up." She left.

When she brought her face back to face Xander, the mood before Alexandra entered caught up with her again. Xander was staring hard at her again, as if trying to puzzle her out. Feeling hot and bothered, she tried to find a way to change the mood before she did something irreversible.

"I see now why the call you Xander. I'm guessing they call Alexandra Alex right?" he blinked and seemed to come out of his trance at her words. Serena detected a blush and she fought a fit of giggle.

"Ah…yes. They figured that our names are too long so they cut it short but they needed to differentiate us so she was called Alex and I became Xander." He explained.

"Do you mind if I called you that too?"

"I'd be delighted." He said with a boyish smile.

"So how many sisters altogether do you have?" she asked.

"Ten."

"Wow!" He laughed; he was used to the amaze reaction.

"Cassie is the oldest, followed by Alex and then Maeve."

"Wait, I thought the oldest was Cassandra."

"Cassie is our nickname for her. Why should we have to cut our name short while she keeps hers long?" he said with a grin and she laughed.

"After Alex comes Laverna, Maxine, Raven, Alethea, the twins Rhea and Rae and finally Hera."

"Those are very unique names." Serena commented.

"Yes but mine is the best." They both turned to see a young woman, about Serena's age coming in with a tray of wine. She had light pink hair and dark pink eyes. Her lips were just as pink. She was dressed in the uniform of the work place, a white skirt (or pants in Alexandra's case) and a gold shirt. By her breast pocket was a name tag reading Rhea. She was beautiful with smooth legs that went on for miles and as slender as her sisters. Serena thought she already knew her, she narrowed her eyes. Thinking about it now, she felt confident she had seen all of the sisters she had seen so far before, but where?

"What's wrong?" Rhea asked, seeing Serena's narrowed eyes. Serena blinked and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I thought I've seen you before." She confessed. The girl smiled.

"You have, here is your wine. Your food will be here soon. Have a good evening." She kissed his cheek and then hers to her surprise. Then as graceful as a dancer, she bounced off. Serena looked at Xander for some explanation.

"She is an odd one. Very spacey really." Alexander said and Serena giggled.

"She looks so much like a girl I know." Serena said, her mood dimmed a little.

"May I ask who?"

"Her name is Rini. She also have pink her and reddish eyes. No one in my family has those colors so we don't know where she got it from."

"She is of your family?"

"You can say that." He saw that the topic was not good for it seemed to dim her spirit. Maybe that's how you recognized her then." He said as he poured her a cup of wine and himself one too.

"Oh no. I know I've seen Rhea before and the sisters I've met so far actually." He smiled.

"Maybe when they were signing autograph you might have been there."

"Signing autograph?"

"They are models."

"What?!?!" Serena yelled shocked and he laughed.

"Maeve, Alex and Maxine are supermodels. The rest are models, they weren't crazy about the modeling world as the Maeve and Maxine were so they all turn it down when they had a chance to become supermodels. Alex had no choice but to become a supermodel though she above all the others hate it more than anything else. From diapers they've always been on the big screen."

"Oh yes! Now I remember! I saw them in a magazine! My fr…Mina wants to be a model and an actress. She is always reading magazines of the models and stuff. I normally don't bother with celebrities unless they are hot guys." Xander laughed then. "It was in one of the magazine that….wait! You are a model too! A super model in fact!"

He smiled at her. "I was waiting for you to figure it out yourself. I was a bit surprise when you didn't recognize me though. Not that I'm arrogant about it…I have just never come across anyone who doesn't recognize me off the bat!" he said nervously.

She giggled at his frantic. "Wow I'm so slow."

"But I guess you don't have interest in that sort of thing."

"Not really." She said picking up her glass and taking a sip as he did the same.

Another knock came at the door and seconds later trays of food were brought in.

"Hey Xander."

"Rae, how are you." Alexander asked, getting up to help his sister but she shoed him away.

"I'm just fine. Thanks for calling me in the afternoon."

"Opps?" he said. She sighed. "You're hopeless."

She set the food on the table before wiping her hand in a handkerchief and stretched a hand to Serena.

"My name is Rae, pleased to meet you. You've met my scatter brain twin and others I hear." She said. She looked exactly like her sister.

"Yes, pleased to meet you too Rosa. My name is Serena." They shook hands.

"Well the rule is that if Cassandra accepts you, you become part of the family. So welcome into our family Serena. If Xander gives you any trouble, let us know and we will correct him." Serena glanced at him and giggled when he gulped and his eyes grew big as if he was frightened.

"I'll be sure to do that."

"Good, then please enjoy your meal." She said before leaving.

"You really have amazing sisters but are they really that scary?" she asked. He chuckled.

"They like to torment me." he said and she laughed.

"Wow, this food smells amazing!"

"Taste even better." They opened their dishes to find mouth watering foods, chicken in all sorts of species. Chicken and rice. Indian bread with sliced chicken and lettuce. And other food she didn't recognize.

"This can feed a whole army!"

"Yeah, they went way overboard. You're much loved Serena." He said and she smiled.

"Well then, we can't let this good food go to waist!" he laughed.

"Bon Appetite."

As soon as those two French words were uttered, the light in the room went off and the mirrors started to glow. Right before Serena's eyes, the scene vanished to be replace by an environment so exotic that she nearly chocked. With wide eyes, she stared at Xander. He smiled.

"Mirrors are actually projectors which can create an illusion of any scene depending on the meal. Bon Appetite is the words to activate it." He explained.

They were sitting on the water in front of the 17th-century Taj Mahal building. To their right stood the building and all around them were the designs.

"Wow!"

"Like it?"

"Like it? What's there not to love??!"

"This was actually Hera's idea."

"She must have one creative mind."

"Believe me, its scary. She likes inventing things and blowing up the house." Serena laughed.

Their meal progressed on and they ate in ease and comfort. As they ate, Serena asked stray questions about him and his intriguing family. By the time the meal was over, she had gotten a pretty good picture of who he is. But she was worried, obviously this was a guy with amnesia, couldn't really remember anything beyond a year ago, was this going to be another Darien in the making?

Finally, over and done with, they said goodbye to the others and left the restaurant. Serena was very content; she had not felt so at eased for so long! She thrilled at warmth in her heart as she closed her eyes to go over the day's event. Alexander had returned to her the forgotten feelings of warmth and love, friendship and what it meant to be a family. She felt herself rejuvenating, as if she had been a bud and finally her season had come to open up, to blossom.

As they sat in the car driving off though, she was still troubled about the issue of his lost memories. Had he been in an accident?

"Xander?" she asked. He stopped at that point at a red traffic light.

"Yeah?" he turned his head a fraction to find her pinched face and he wondered if everything was alright.

"Your memories, were you in an accident of some kind to have lost it all?"

He sighed.

"Truthfully I tell you this Serena, I do not know. I just woke up feeling like a baby with no idea what was going on. When I woke up, I found myself surrounded by the anxious faces of my sisters in our living room. They told me they had come home to find me sleeping on the couch, something I never did so they were worried. Of course when they realize I couldn't remember anything, they introduced themselves and try to make me understand what was going on. Everything they said made absolutely no sense to me. It took me half a yeah to finally understand that I had amnesia and would probably never remember my past. But my sisters believe a time will come when I will remember. They brought me here to Japan because they said this place holds the key into unlocking my memories. We've been here only a week and I'm glad we came here, even if I don't remember…it gave me the chance and a wonderful opportunity to meet you." He said smiling down at her.

Her breath caught in her throat and unconsciously their faces drew closer together. A car from behind them honked its horn, startling them out of their entrance daze. Alex blinked, realizing the green light must have come on for a while. Sighing disappointedly, he drove. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her blush and try to cover her face. He wondered then if she was embarrassed, regretful that they had been interrupted or there was a reason altogether behind her blush and covering of her face he didn't know. Whatever the case was, he knew without a trace of doubt that his heart had found his white rose.

The finally arrived at the Tsukino residence but they didn't come out of the car right away. It was as if they were stilling time, hoping against hope to spend more time with each other. But when the time finally struck ten, they knew it was time to say goodbye. They struggled with the thought, Xander more so as he got up and walked to Serena's side of the door. He opened it but stood still and stared at her. she returned his gaze with a look of pain of her own. Finally, they sighed and he took her hand, helping her step gently out of the car. Closing it behind him, he held her hand and walked her to her door. As soon as she was on her porch, he stepped back and she turned quickly back at him. She tried to talk but no words came out of her mouth.

"Sometimes even the night becomes an enemy." He said with a sad smile.

"I will see you tomorrow?" she asked, her voice more a plea. His smile brightened.

"Yes, I will see you in the morning. I will pick you up for school, is that alright?"

"That's perfect!" she said all too quickly and blushed. He leaned forward then to her surprise and kissed her cheek, sending waves of electricity through her system. She felt as if shocked by lightening. Finally he backed off.

"Goodnight Princess." he said and began walking back to the car. He stumbled into the driver's seat, as affected by the current of shocks as Serena was. He looked her through his review mirror, waving one last time before driving away.

Serena finally came out of her daze, a big smile braking across her lips. She giggled before opening the door and entered her house. At ten, Rini and Sammy would be in their rooms. She found her parents sitting in the living room chair. As soon as she entered, they looked up and their eyes went wide.

"Wow darling, you look absolutely amazing!" Her mom praised. She got off the chair and walked to her daughter, giving Serena a big hug. Serena was confused, was makeover all it took to make a person who had treated her like a stranger for near two months to suddenly be so warm to her? She did not return the hug.

"Welcome home." Her father said when he got over the shock.

"Yeah." Serena answered uncertainly.

"Oh yeah, several packages came for you. I put it up in your room."

"Thanks mom."

"You're welcome." Serena was utterly baffled at the kindness coming off of her parents, it wasn't that they were mean, it was that they had barely acknowledged her existence for the past two months, so what had changed?

"You must be exhausted. You should go take a shower and sleep." He mother said.

"Oh yes. Thank you."

"Oh and thank you friend for the gifts." Serena blinked.

"Friends? What gift?" she asked.

"Weren't you being tutored by someone name Cassandra?"

"Yeah?"

"She was the one who sent the packages to you. She came here herself to greet us and told us you were having dinner with some of her siblings. She brought gifts for me and your father, she didn't know about Sammy and Rini but she says she will bring something for them later."

"Oh."

"She was very nice and kind. And very mature."

"Well mannered too." Her father added. So that was it.

"She also promised to tutor you for free and make you one of the smartest in your school!" Serena understood. Having met Cassandra, it was easy to see why her parents had suddenly had a change of heart. Yet she was unhappy, would her new friends come to like Rini more than her as her old friends had? Already Cassandra had promised to give a gift to Rini and though Serena knew it as out of politeness, she still felt afraid. Would Rini always be a stumbling block to her happiness?

"Goodnight." She inclined her head to her parents before she climbed up the bed and walked down the hallway to her room. When she opened her door, she found the room absolutely cleaned. There were several packages as her mother had said. She walked to it and found a letter on her pillow. She opened it up and a card fell out of it. Looking at the card, she realized it was a membership card to enter Rainbow.

_It was nice meeting you today Serena. I hope to see you tomorrow. I hope you don't mind that I came to your house but I wanted to deliver your things to you and meet your parents. They seem nice enough. Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful day with Xander today. Have fun with all your new things. And remember, if you ever need something or just a person to talk to, I'm always available. Tomorrow can't come soon enough._

_Love from big sis, _

_Cassie._

The letter read. She smiled at it. Maybe these new friends might be different after all. She opened the packages and found to her astonishment all the clothes and then some that she had tried on today. They came with shoes and jewels made of pure gold and diamonds and the other precious jewels.

"Thank you so much Cassie…Alexander." She said as she sat to marvel at her new things.

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If only she had looked at the double doors leading to her veranda, she would have seen two figures, one encroached in flames and the other dressed in the suites of a sailor soldier. As it was, she didn't look and after a smile from the unidentified soldier, the figures disappeared.

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**Read and Review!!!^^**

Sorry for the long wait!


	4. Chapter 4 New Students

Please Read my newest fanfic. It's called **ECLIPSE**^^

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

_**Chapter Four - New Students!  
**_

A knock came at her door. Because she didn't want to be late and keep Alexander waiting when he came to get her, she had woken up early to make sure she would make it on time. She had even had enough time to iron her uniform, apply a light makeup which was mostly around the eyes to let it stand out a little and a gloss on the lips. She let her hair tumble at her back in waves of gold liquid, for one day she wanted to go without the meatballs.

When the knock came on the door, she didn't get up thinking it was her mother coming to call her down for breakfast. Though why she thought that she didn't know since she had been ignored for a month but all the same that was what she thought.

"I'm coming mom." She replied, using the brush to run down her hair one last time. She looked at the clock and it read 6: 45 am.

"I'm not your mom but may I enter?" she stiffened visibly at the voice before relaxing. She bounded to the door knowing exactly who was behind it. She opened it to reveal one of the twins.

"Rae right?" Serena asked.

"The sane one, yes." Rae said, entering the room and looking around. Before Serena could closed the door, a golden bird burst into the room at high speed. It hit against the wall as it was unable to stop its speed on time. Serena rushed to it.

"Oh no Flavius!" she said, running quickly to the fallen, disoriented bed. She picked up the eagle gently in her arms and cradled it against her chest. She sat on the bed and gently massaged the head of the bed before fixing its wings and massaging it all over to bring some order into its mind. After flexing its wings and realizing it was unhurt, the bird look up at Serena and squeaked out.

"You're welcome." It flexed its wings again before trying to fly back up, when it did; it just circled Serena before landing on her shoulder. All the while Rae watched the exchange with guarded eyes.

"Do you like animals?" She asked, sitting at the chair in front of the mirror.

"Yes! I have…I used to have a cat of my own." But there was no enthusiasm in her voice. Rae noticed this but didn't comment.

"Anyway, I came to get you. Are you ready?" she asked, looking Serena up and down.

"Um…" Serena began but stopped, unable to ask what she really wanted to know.

"We are going to have breakfast at the restaurant before heading off to school." Rae said, moving to the door. She opened it but before she stepped out, she turned a fraction of her head to give Serena a smile.

"Hurry up or we will leave you behind and you don't want to keep Xander waiting do you?" he said and laughed as Serena blushed crimson. Grabbing her bag and patting Flavius on the head, Serena quickly followed after Rae who was walking out of her house by the time she reached the top of the stairs. Before leaving she passed by the dinning area where her parents were having breakfast."

"I'm leaving." She said softly and they both turned to her with smiles.

"Morning Serena." Her mother said.

"Yeah, morning."

"Your friend said you guys are going to that exclusive restaurant to have breakfast. I wish I were you." Her father said with a smile twinge with a bit of envy.

"Oh stop being jealous. Have a good day sweetie." He mom said.

"Yeah, thanks mom." She said and followed after Rae.

"Rae, what a pretty name. We should have named Serena something like that or at least Serenity like I told you to!" Her mother was saying but Serena left before hearing the rest. She shook her head at her parents. They had no idea.

She breathed in the early morning air but jumped when the car honked. She looked at the car with wide eyes to see several of Xander's sisters laughing. He was shaking his head and seemed to be scowling at them. He got out of the driver's seat and walked to her with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry about that." he said, looking back to glare at them.

"It's ok." She said uneasily. That honked had startled her to her core. He turned back to her at her tone and stepped closer. He ran his hand down her hands to calm her before tentatively bringing his hand to her cheek.

"Good morning." He said with a gently smile which made Serena forget everything other than his eyes and the sweet sound of his voice.

"Morning." She replied shyly, trying to avoid his eyes. He used his fingers to lift her face back to his.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked and she nodded.

"Better than the past months I can safely say."

"Good." He said and the two just stared. A honk came from the car as the two of them jumped, startled from their…um…moment. Serena blushed to the roots of her hair though Xander turned around to his sisters and glowered at them, his eyes promising vengeance!

"Lets go before they wake the entire neighborhood." He said, stretching his hand out to her and she took it without question. He walked her around the front of the car and opened it; a look of pure mischief crossed his handsome features. In the front passenger seat sat a girl Serena had never seen before though she knew she was one of his sisters. She had shoulder length forest green hair, emerald rich eyes with a strong but beautiful face. However right then, she was glaring daggers at Xander.

"Now Miss Mischievous, I am going to ask you lightly to remove yourself to the back so my lady can sit beside me." he said with an innocent grin on his face.

"Um… I can just go to the back you know?" Serena said.

"You have got to be strong and tough or they will walk all over you." He said to her with a wink.

"You are kicking me out of my seat?" there was a resonance of shock in her voice and Serena worried she might get hysterical or worse, violent.

"I could drag you down from there but let's be the lady that I'm sure you are somewhere deep down that black heart of yours and move yourself to the back." Xander continued in that same innocent tone.

"Remember this brother, you shall pay." The threat sounded entirely too real for Serena's comfort but before she can protest, the girl stepped down.

"See, that was easy." Xander said. She glared at him before turning her fiery green eyes on a nervous Serena. She smiled and stuck her hand out.

"I'm Laverna, pleased to meet you Serena." She said amiably and Serena blinked. Could emotions change that quickly? She saw her weariness and laughed.

"Oh don't worry about me and Xander, this is normal." She said as if that explained everything. Slowly Serena took her hand and shook it.

"Pleased to meet you too Laverna." Laverna's gaze became thoughtful.

"You really are as small as they said." She said and Serena's cheek burned!

"That's because you're too big!" Serena retorted with narrowed eyes. Her size, she had had enough of people teasing her about something she couldn't' control. Laverna though laughed good naturedly.

"I suppose you are right." Serena felt ashamed for being upset over such a trivial matter. Laverna was 6 feet or almost there Serena was short and standing by her made her feel smaller than her already small size.

"I'm sorry." Serena apologized. Laverna patted her on the head.

"You must be often teased about your size to be so defensive. It's ok, there is much we must learn about each other so we don't cross the line." The taller girl said and Serena looked up in awe.

"You're not going to win her heart with gentleness Lava; Xander is already using that approach." Rae said loudly and giggles from two other people in the car were heard. Serena blushed again.

"Well there is no harm in trying right?" Laverna answered, winking at Serena who giggled in response.

"You should have seen her disappointed face when it was Xander who greeted her at the door." Rae said, faking a sniffle as if she was crying.

"Oh no…that's not it…" Serena said weakly and all the girls burst out laughing. Xander sighed and came to her side; he took her hand and helped her into the car.

"Don't mind those clowns; watch them turn on each other. They turn to pick easy targets to teas, be tough and they won't have a thing to say." He said to her.

"Oh." She replied, that was all she could say.

"And the silver blue haired one at the far right is Alethea. She returned home from paris last night." Xander introduced.

"Pleased to meet you princess." Alethea said. Serena turned around to see who it was and she smiled at the girl. She was beautiful with icy blue eyes and hair and a sweet smile graced her lips. A thin frame glassed rested on her nose though Serena was without a doubt that her eyes were perfect.

"Hi Alethea." The girl's smile widened.

"We are going to be the best of friends." Alethea said and Serena nodded. By the time their exchange was through, Xander had climbed to the driver's side and Laverna hand entered the car and closed side door. It was then that it registered in her mind. Serena turned around sharply to see what they were all wearing and her jaw dropped.

Alethea was the first to understand Serena's reaction and she giggled.

"We will be attending your school as of today."

"Oh." Serena answered.

"Sorry that I didn't tell you that yesterday, it slipped my mind." Xander said. Serena just shook her head.

"We were going to wait with the others at the restaurant for Xander to come get you but I was too impatient to meet the newest member of the family. Ale too and the twins decided to come just for the ride." Laverna explained.

"Thank you." she said for the explanation before another thought struck her.

"Where is Flavius?" she asked, she hadn't even noticed when he lifted off her shoulders. And with his welcomed weight, you would think she would have noticed.

"He is flying over head." Xander answered as he stepped on the pedal to drive. As if summoned by his question, Flavius flew to her side of the window. She watched it with wondering eyes as its magnificent wind fought effortlessly against the brush of the wind. Serena wondered if it never got tired. When his gaze fell on her, it squeaked and began showing off by turning around and flipping over. Serena watched the show, enchanted by it. She wasn't aware that she had audience watching her with amusement.

By the time she realized it, they had reached the restaurant. At the stop of the car, Flavius flew to sit at the top of the car. She wanted to stick her neck out to see him but when she turned around and saw all their gaze on her, she blushed and hid her face. The ladies giggled as Xander chuckled.

"Now I know why Flavius loves you so much." He said with a laugh.

"Yeah cause you give him too much attention." Laverna answered.

"I've…never seen an eagle so close or so beautiful and he is definitely a good dancer." She confessed.

"Flavius learned his suave dancing moves from Xander who used to think himself a bird and dance in his boxers." Laverna said and Serena eyes widened. She looked at Xander who was blushing furiously.

"That is not true." He said through gritted teeth.

"How would you know, you have amnesia." Laverna said and stepped out of the car, laughing as she ran inside of the restaurant.

"Payback is sweet." Rae said, following the green haired girl. The other giggled and ran off after the two girls and Xander dropped his head on the steering wheel. Serena looked at him sympathetically.

"If it makes you feel better I think the dance would be better performed by you." Serena said and he looked up at her with horror.

"No, not you too!" Serena laughed and opened her door, stepping out of it. He followed suit and quickly walked to her side.

"So is it true?" Serena asked.

"Is what true?" he asked in confusion.

"The dance." She said with a huge grin and he groaned.

"Why you…" he said as he made to grab her but she ducked and moved too quickly that he was baffled at her swiftness. He may not know it but she was the champion of justice and had slicked moves…so she thought. She ran away from him laughing and he chased her.

When she came in view of the many pairs of eyes staring at her, she stood still, looked down and fidgeted with her hands.

"Good morning." She said softly.

"Oh enough with that unnerving stare!" Xander said from behind Serena and they all laughed.

"Morning Serena. You seem in high spirits today." Cassie said as she came forward. Serena looked at her with a smile and stepped into her embrace.

"My turn next!" Maeve said as she came up behind Cassie and when the older girl let go of Serena, Maeve also embraced her.

"How was your night sweetie? Did you have a good sleep?" she asked fondly.

"Best I've had in a long time." Serena answered.

"Good! Cause we have whole lot of food to eat before we head for school." It was then that Serena saw several short tables pulled together to make a long table and on it sat various food.

"Food!" She said heading towards it and they laugh as they followed her.

"Hi, I'm Hera." Serena jumped out of her skin as she heard the soft voice by her right. She quickly turned around in surprise and came face to face with a girl who was almost close to her height. She had dark ebony hair, blacker than anything Serena had ever seen. So black that it was hard to distinguish strands of individual hair as her long hair fell to her knees. She had dark Amethyst eyes which held sparks of silver that Serena could not help but compare her eyes to a stormy night with flashes of lightening.

Serena just stared, her heart beat running too fast for her to react to Hera's greeting.

"You will get use to Hera just popping up. One minute she is not there and the next she is by you as if she's always been. It used to creep the hell out of me but I got used to it eventually." Laverna said and Serena wondered if she will really get use to that. ever since she was a child, she had never liked being crept up on and she didn't think Hera's uncanny creeping up abilities was going to help her. Finally she pulled herself together and stretched out a shaking hand.

"Yes, it is nice to meet you Hera. My name is Serena." She introduced herself. Hera took her hand and Serena jolted at the blast of energy or electricity that smeared through her. it gave her the feeling of something cold, dead yet very much alive. The feeling disappeared as soon as it came.

"We will be friends for a long time to come." Hera said and Serena felt the saying of something prophetic in her voice.

"I sincerely hope so." Her fright put aside, she openly smiled at Hera and Hera smiled back. Finally they took a seat to eat their breakfast.

The odd thing was that Serena was sat at one end of the table and Xander took the other end while the others filled in on the sides. They made a picture of a happy family, a father at one end and a mother at the other.

"Two." Serena said. They all looked at her, puzzled.

"Two what?" Xander asked.

"Two of your sisters are not here." She observed.

"Ah, oh yes. They will arrive later today." Cassie answered.

"Oh, where are they?"

"They had a movie shoot in London; they are finished now and will arrive later." Xander explained.

"What movie?"

"Anastasia." Serena was heavily impressed. She had always loved the story of Anastasia, she realized there was a lot of similarities between the two of them. Lost of kingdom, loose of memories and the struggle to get it all back, they were indeed much alike.

"Wow, I really want to see it when it comes out in theaters."

"Well you see…" Laverna began with a glint of amusement.

"We tend to get movies way before it hits theaters, so you will get to see it way before that." Alethea explained.

"Really?!" Serena said excitedly.

"Yup."

They continued to it and Serena could not help but compare her new found friends to her old ones. There was something so similar by the two sets of groups and she wondered what it was. Looking at Cassie, she thought of all the scouts and she realized Cassie was Pluto's match. One by one she began to see who all of them matched. Laverna would be the reflection of Jupiter definitely, and then there was Alethea who would be Mercury's reflection. Maeve and Neptune, but Rae and Rhea reflected no one. Then there was Alexandra who she supposed reflected Uranus though not so much. And Finally Hera, Saturn's reflection.

She wondered what would happen if the two groups came into contact. She was afraid of that possibility and shook her head out of her thoughts. Breakfast came fast to an end and they stood up, Serena trying to help put the dishes away but they wouldn't let her.

"A princess must not do the duties of a maid." Alexandra said with a wink.

"But…I'm no princess." she replied.

"You are our princess, Serena." Cassie said, her voice loaded with deeper meaning yet so very light that Serena did not detect anything more than a joke.

"Now off you go children or you will be late for school." Maeve said motherly.

"Yes mother." Lava, Alethea, Rae and Rhea said all at once. Maeve nodded in approval and Serena giggled. She watched them go up to the three older girls and plant a kiss on their cheeks and they did the same with Hera. Serena wanted to be included in the hugging and kissing but she fell a bit out of place.

"Well?" Cassie said looking at Serena.

"What?" Serena asked slowly, not comprehending.

"I don't get a hug and a kiss?" Cassie pretended to sniffle and Serena blush, quickly jogging up to her and planting a clumsy kiss on her cheeks and giving her a bear hug. Cassie hugged her back and kissed her forehead. The same was repeated with Alex and Maeve before she bent her head to kiss Hera on the check. Hera leaned up and returned the kiss and again she felt as if her soul had been touch by the kiss than just her cheeks.

"Take care princess. You are a princess and you are beautiful. Remember that always and know that your warmth is like a beacon of light that people need to find themselves and live to the fullest. Life gets hard princess, but don't loose to it. Don't loose to them." Hera said seriously and not knowing what to say, Serena nodded her reply.

"Be safe Serena. We will see you after school." Cassie said and put her hand around Serena's waist and led the young girl out of the restaurant to where the others waited. Cassie bent down and whispered in her ears.

"You will never be alone as long as you are with us. We will always love you." she said and Serena nodded gratefully, jogging up to the others to hide the sudden tears in her eyes.

Why do I feel so safe with them? Why is Cassie so warm… like my mother? She wondered, thinking of the late queen of the moon when she thought of mother. A long black limo pulled up by them and Serena stared astonishingly at it. The others moved to it, opening the doors to sit down and she just stood gawking at it.

"You're not coming?" Alethea asked in confusion.

"Don't tell me…we are going to school in that!?!?" her voice raised with her surprise.

"Of course. First impression is everything!" Rae said and ducked in. Serena shook her head, these people were impossible. She walked to it and had her door open by Xander.

"Thank you." She said and he smiled, she felt her heart flip over. She turned around to where Cassie had been joined by Maeve and Alex and waved to them. They waved back and she sat in the car, scooting a bit away to make room for Xander who was obviously going with them. As soon as the limo began moving, Rhea grabbed a brush and begun combing through Serena's hair.

"You have such pretty long hair. Isn't it a hassle to take care of it? My is only waist length but that is a pain taking care of it." Rae said.

"I don't really do anything to my hair. I just wash it day and night and brush it out. Washing can be challenging but other than that I don't do anything."

"Really!?" all the girls said.

"Yeah."

"Then how the hell do you get such nice hair texture and color? You've never permed it or creamed it or anything like that?" Laverna.

"Never."

"Trimmed it?"

"I cut it waist high when I was in six grade, then it was trimmed about three years ago, other that…"

"You're special." Alethea decided.

Rhea let Serena's hair loose to her shoulders, then braided the rest in a single long braid. She then took the braid and placed it over Serena's left shoulder and added a bit of gloss to her lips. She did nothing else for Serena still retained her glamour from the night before.

"So what classes do you have?" she asked them.

"I checked to see what classes you have and arranged to have at least one of us always with you in every period." Alethea said.

"Really!?" Serena said excitedly.

"Yes. We have the morning classes together, all of us. However we separate after lunch. We have four classes after launch, you will be with Laverna and Maxine for the first, Raven and I for the second, Rea and Rhea for the third and we all meet up again for the last.

"You're a genius Alethea!" Serena said happily.

"I know." Ale replied with a wink and they laughed.

They arrived at the school, unware of the incredulity stares they received.

"Now remember Serena, smile and look confident." Rhea said and Serena nodded though inwardly she was a mess of nerves. They would be meeting the scouts for the first time today. She was frightened. What if the scouts told them mean things about her and they decided they didn't want to be friends with them. While they got out of the car, she sat in wallowing in self pity.

"Without take your first step, you will not be able to move forward. Do not worry, all will be well." Xander said softly from the door way. She looked into his eyes and saw how confident and assured he was and took comfort in the thought that he would not hurt or betray her no matter what he heard about her. He reached his hand in, she grabbed it and he helped her out of the car.

"This is the school we are attending?" there was surprise horror in Laverna's voice.

"You can go to that catholic all girls school if you want." Alethea said in reply.

"Is something wrong?" Serena asked and Laverna turned a baffled look at her.

"They are used to going to the school for the rich and everything. She hadn't expected the school she will be going now to be so…ordinary." Xander explained.

"Oh." Serena said, slightly disappointed. Laverna sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped. Besides I don't want to go to a different school than you guys so I guess I will have to make the best of it." She said and Serena smiled up at her. she looked at the others and realized Alethea was the only one not disappointed by the school.

"So we have to be ordinary now? Take the Extra out of our rather Extraordinary existence?" Rae asked.

"Yup. Serena you know this life style more than we do. We are used to things going our way and might have a bit of problem adjusting to life in this school. Please help us along the way." Alethea said with a small bow and the other threw followed suit.

"Of course, what are friends for?"

"But we are not friends." Rae said with a sad pout.

"Oh, I see…" The sadness was heard and felt.

"We are sisters!" Rae said and she gave Serena a sudden hug. She was surprised at first but returned the embrace whole heartedly.

"Well ladies, it is here that I must bid you farewell." Xander said and Serena turned to him.

"Enjoy your day Xander." She said.

"It's going to be dreary, long and boring without you." he said and she giggled in embracement. She wasn't used to such straightforwardness even though she was the queen of frank. Darien had never openingly admitted to feelings of loneliness or longing and only once could she remember that he had told her he loved her. That was so long ago, around the first time they had become a couple.

"And we are going to have her to ourselves the entire day. Sucks to be you Xander." Lava teased and he playfully glowered at her.

"Oh my dear," he said as he grabbed her two hands in his own. "Tell me you will think of me all day and that ye shall run to me like the wind when this pitiful place called school which dares to tear you away from me is over. Say you will search for me." He said, matching his words with an English accent that Serena could not help but think of Romeo and Juliet.

"Yes my good Sir, my heart will know no joy until it is reunited with you once again." She replied.

"Ye makes a mans heart beat strong in love dearest." He said with a wink, leaned down and kissed the back of her fingers. Then he leaned up and kissed her on both cheeks and the forehead.

"Take care Sere and watch over my sisters, especially that trouble maker over there." He said with a pointed glare at Lava who smiled innocently.

"I will."

"Until we meet again my dear, farewell." He said and returned inside the limo. As it began moving away, he blew her a kiss which she pretended to grab and put it on her chest. She watched it until it totally disappeared before turning to her waiting friends.

"Shall we?" They entered the school building, unaware of the attention they had attracted since they arrived. Among the shock audience were FIVE familiar figures, Amy, Lita, Mina, Melvin and Molly. They watched with miss feelings of anger, jealousy and a hint of betrayal.

The five of them waited patiently in the office until the bell rang and students filled into their classrooms. Serena had been allowed to stay with them after Alethea's bright convincing of the principal that she was needed to help them calm down as they were not used to a third rate school.

Finally the last bell which they waited for rang and they headed to class together. Serena knocked on the door as Miss Haruna had explained to let the teacher know they had arrived and she had better make her introduction fast.

"As you all know, we have new students. Some of you know them and others may not but that is only if you live under a rock. They have requested not to be bothered in school of signing autograph or any of the sorts. As long as they are on school grounds, any who bothers them about signing autograph will be suspended. Three suspension and you will be expelled. Keep in mind that despite how famous they are, they are also people with feelings." Outside Serena and her new friends heard Miss. Haruna's words and they snickered.

Seconds later they heard the approaching foot steps of the teacher and quieted down. Miss Haruna opened the door.

"Come in." she said and retrieved her head back inside the classroom. Serena turned to them behind her.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah." They said with a nod. Turning around, she took a deep breath and opened the door. She didn't know what she was expecting but the silence following their entre was unnerved. She walked them to the front of the class and stood a little apart so the class could focus on the newcomers.

"Serena, could you please introduce your friends?" Miss Haruna said.

"Yes of course. Everyone, this is Laverna." She said pointing to the tall, green haired girl.

"Pleased to meet you all." Laverna said in turn.

"And this is Alethea."

"Pleasure."

"And the twins are Rhea and Rae." She said pointing to each individual twin.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." The two said at the same time. But still silence penetrated the room as her classmates watched in shock surprise. Stars, like the three lights, were once again coming to their school. And once again Serena was deeply involved with them, how was she always so lucky?

"Well, we are getting the silence treatment." Laverna said and that seemed to undo the class. Floods of questions followed soon after and they answered as man as they could before Miss Haruna caught in. They were seated close to the window. Laverna sat behind Serena, Alethea sat in front and the twins sat on each side of her. They made a square with Serena in the middle as if to protect her from all bad influence.

Serena did not miss the looks the scouts threw her way but she met none of it. It wasn't until lunch did the confrontation she expected took place. As they headed to lunch, they were called to the office. Serena and her new friends entered the office to find Alexandra waiting for them.

"Hey Alex. You're just on time!" Laverna said she was the first to approach the older girl.

"What's going on?" Serena asked.

"Well we don't like cafeteria food so Alexandra brought us home made food." Rhea answered.

"Oh ok."

"Shall we go to the lunch room then?" Alethea asked.

"Do you guys want to eat outside?" Serena asked hopefully.

"We are allowed to?" Rae asked.

"So long as you leave nothing on the floor and you clean your area after you finish eating." The office lady said.

"Yes! I much prefer to it outside. Come on, I'm starving!" Lava said.

"You're always starving." Alex retorted with an affectionate roll of her eyes.

"I wouldn't be this gorgeous if I didn't it." She replied, placed a hand around Serena's waist and guided them outside the office. They arrived at the determined lunch area outside. Looking up, she saw Mina, Lita, Amy, Melvin, Molly and a few others crowded under one of the tallest tree. Several feet away from them, stood another bigger tree and they headed to it. Alethea helped Alex spread blanket on the floor and placed pillows for them to sit on and Rea and Rhea spread the food on it. Serena gasped at the variety of foods. Pizza, chicken rice, mush potatoes and sandwiches. There was a cake for desert and inside a cola there were drinks!

"I wouldn't like school lunch either if I knew the alternative was this promising!" she said and they laughed. They sat around the food and set plates in front of them, taking whatever they wanted.

"So how has your day been so far?" Alex asked the general question.

"The people are a bit rude but they are interesting." Alethea said as she served herself some rice.

"I think I will join the cooking and soccer club." Laverna said.

"Oh yeah, I am also considering the research and gardening club." Alethea replied.

"Which club are you in Serena?" Alex asked and Serena grew nervous.

"None."

"Why not?" she looked down, ashamed of herself.

"I've never really been good at anything." She admitted.

"But isn't that what clubs are for? To learn? To experience?" Rhea asked and Serena shook her head.

"Its…I've never been good at anything…" she said again as if that should explain everything.

"Ah I see. They won't give you a chance." Alex summarized.

"That's cruel!" Rae said, angry.

"Serena, what club do you want to join if could join any at all?" Rhea asked.

"I'm not certain. I like drawing manga so art would be good."

"Did you ever try out for anything?" Rae asked.

"Yeah, I tried out with Mina for cheerleading but I've always been clumsy so that was no good. Then I tried for cooking, at first I was really bad so I messed up the first trial. I've gotten just a tad better but when I went back they only had me do like dishes and cleaning and wouldn't let me anywhere near cooking. I'm good at running but the pain I experience after running is very bad."

"Pain?" Alex cut in sharply.

"I feel faint and pain shoots throughout my body and then I black out." she explained. Alex and Alethea shared a silent look of horror.

"Serena, when did this pain began?" Alethea asked.

"Well the pain began around my freshman yeah but I never passed out then. Just the pass three months has been very tough and I began passing out."

"I see." From the look on her face, she was contemplating something very serious.

"You mentioned a girl name Mina, who is she?" Lava asked.

"The long haired blond in the group behind us."

"Is she a close friend of yours?" Serena sighed.

"We were at one point I guess."

"Do you guys have a dance club?" Rhea asked.

"Just the cheerleaders."

"Skating club?" Rae asked. Serena shook her head no.

"Drama club?" Rhea asked.

"Yes but they are not very good or nice. They always use the same people to play the main characters in every production and people are rather upset about it."

"I can see why." Rae said.

"Sometimes I feel like starting my own club but I know no one will join." Serena said laughing nervously. The others exchanged a look.

"Start our own club, not a bad idea if I do say so myself." Lava said and Serena gasped in surprise. They liked her stupid idea?!

"Then I suppose it's decided, to start our own club!" Alethea said brightly.

"And what club will it be?" Serena asked.

"The all in one club!." Rae said. Serena looked confused.

"Our club won't have just on e function but many. One club but with many different activities." Alethea explained.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Lava asked Serena, brushing her hair back affectionately. Serena looked up and smiled gratefully.

"Yes, it would."

"So what must you do to start a club?" Alex was the first to ask.

"Well you…" but she stopped talking as she saw Lita, Mina and Amy with others following close behind approach them. The sisters turned up to look at the approaching group and wiped all emotions from their faces.

"Hi! We didn't get to introduce ourselves before. I'm Mina Aino and I'm the captain of the cheerleaders. Nice to meet you." Mina said brightly.

"And I'm Lita Kino. I'm with the cooking club, nice to meet you."

"Hello. I'm Amy and I'm with the Research club. It's very nice to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Molly."

"And I'm Melvin." The sisters nodded politely.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"Serena why didn't you tell us that these amazing sisters were your friends?" Mina asked with a hint of accusation.

"I'm afraid that would have inconvenienced her and us before." Alethea answered.

"Oh, I see."

"Well if you ever want to hang out or look around, just let us no." Mina said.

"Thank you." Alethea replied but did not take the offer.

"Serena, can we have a private word with you?" Amy asked. The sisters looked at Serena as if to say, don't go anywhere with them. But it was not their place, not yet anyways. Serena stood up and giving them a small smile followed Amy, Lita and Mina several feet away.

"Nice of you to give us some warning." Mina said.

"My affairs are none of your concern." She replied coldly. Over the past three month, she had developed this cold voice when she talked to them. It wasn't to be mean but they had been hurting her, her coldness to them was a way to shield herself from their biting insults.

"Anyway, what do you want?" she asked.

"That guy…" Amy began.

"What guy?"

"Alexander of course!" Mina nearly snapped.

"What about him?" she asked, guarding her voice and eyes.

"We just want to know what your relationship with him is." Lita said. Serena laughed, it was all too funny.

"And you think because you ask I will tell you? What loyalty do I owe you? What part of my life belongs to you that you think I will tell you my affairs?" she asked mockingly.

"Serena don't be stupid! What about Darien?" Mina asked.

"What about him?" Serena said with a raised brow.

"What about him? Did you just ask what about him?"

"Look, it's very cool and noble that you are looking out for your prince but I'm done. I'm done with everything. Do not bother me again if you have nothing to talk about." She said and turned to leave, but Lita grabbed her hand and turned her around.

"Don't you dare turn away from us when we are talking to you!" she hissed in Serena's face.

"That is enough." They turned around to where the voice had come from and there stood a girl with long orange hair with dark golden highlights to her ankles. She had startling golden eyes which glared at them presently while her features hid her fury.

"Let her go." There was a command in her voice which startled Lita that she let go immediately. The girl walked through them to stand in front of Serena and took Serena's face in her gentle arms. Serena stiffened as the electricity she had felt with Hera rocked through her system again. Maxine was taller like all the other girls than Serena.

"Be much stronger princess. For it will only get tougher from here." She leaned down and kissed Serena on the lips gently before drawing back.

"Maxine!" Rae's voice penetrated Serena's daze. Maxine looked up to where her sisters were jogging up to her with a smile.

"Shall we?" She said, holding hands with Serena and running to meet Lava who was the first one to reach them. The two embraced fiercely and the embrace was shared wit hall the sisters. Alex was the last to approach and Maxine bow a little to her older sister in respect before kissing her on the cheek and hugging the older girl.

"I'm glad to have you safely returned."Alex said.

"So am I. I've missed you all." She said. Serena loved the sound of her voice; it was like the twinkling of a bell with just a tad of husk to give it a breathy tone.

"When did you get here?" Rae asked, she was staring up at Maxine with pure adoration written on her face. Serena realized something immediately; they all held a sort of respect or admiration for Maxine that went beyond being sisters.

"Just now but I could not wait after school to meet the new flower in our house so I came to see her." She answered and turned back to Serena. She held her hand out.

"I am delighted to finally meet you princess. My name is Maxine, another of Xander's sisters." Serena took the offered hand.

"It's very nice to meet you." She was embarrassed with her self that her breath came out as if she had been running for a long time. She was speechless in Maxine's presents. She understood why Maxine was a super model; the girl was gorgeous beyond words. And her voice, when commanding it was hard to disobey and when not you could drown in its loveliness. Serena was glad that she was a friend and not an enemy.

She drew Serena into her embrace.

"You are so cute!" She said as she held Serena to her.

"Isn't she?' Xander wants to eat her up." Lava said and Serena blushed madly.

"I can see why but I'm not giving her to him!" Maxine declared and Serena blushed even more. Lava laughed.

"Oh is Xander in trouble!" they all laughed.

"Where is Raven?" Alethea asked.

"Being pig headed as always. She went to sleep since she claimed to be tired. She said we should all meet at the crown arcade after school."

"Any particular reason?" Rhea asked.

"She said something about marking a territory. You know her when she is in one of those modes." Serena was beginning to worry about the last sister. She seemed a bit different from all the other sisters from what she was hearing.

"I suppose it won't hurt to stop by there though I have no idea where it is."

"I know." Serena answered.

"Good. Then shall we finish eating?" Alethea said and they returned to their food. Maxine joined them and they talked about the movie, its ups and downs and when it was expected to come out.

The bell soon rang to end lunch and after a couple of hugs and goodbyes, Serena and the girls returned to class. For Serena, the school day was taking so long. She was anxious to meet the other sister and to see Maxine again.

Finally when she thought she would cut class, the day came to an end. She gave a loud sigh of relief and Alethea giggled.

"Not a fan of school I see."

"Trust me, school and I have hated each other for a rather long time." Serena answered.

"It's a drag to spend almost an entire day doing work you can do in mere minutes if you were home." Lava agreed.

"Well the purpose of school is not so much as to learn the book stuff as to learn to be sociable. Preparing you to deal with others in the world at large."

"Boring!" Both Serena and Lava said at the same time and Alethea shook her head.

"Well shall we go?" Rhea asked.

"Yes please!" Serena stood up quickly and grabbed her bag.

"Lets go!" she said running out of the class with the others running after her.

"Last one to the gate is a rotten egg!" she said and Lava passed her before she could blink. Rhea speed up and laughing Serena speed up too. She came to a sudden stop and Rae and Rhea took the opportunity to pass her. She grabbed her chest and fought back a sudden pain. She looked back and Alethea was almost bseside her, she grinned and continued running.

"Alethea looses!" Rae and Serena cheered.

"I've never been much of an athelet." Alethea said.

"Really?"

"Yup, but she can definitely ran faster than she did today." Lava said.

"Madam." Startled, Serena turned around sharply at the voice and found a man in his late twenties dressed in a black suit and white dress shirt with an ear piece in his ear. He had dark shade of sunglasses on.

"Hello Michael." Rae said cheerfully.

"Michael, this is Serena. Should she ever need a ride, do not hesistate ot oblige." Alethea said.

"Yes madam."

"Serena, do you want to walk to the crown arcade?" Lava asked.

"Its fine with me but have you forgotten who you are?" Serena asked. The looked around, seeing that ll the students were staring at them.

"Darn. Another time I guess." Lava gave in and they climbed into the limo. Ten minutes later the limo stopped by the arcade and they got out. The people on the street stopped to watch them and those in the arcade turned their attention from the two fascinating people sitting in a boot there to watch the new comers. Among the pairs of eyes were two pars of familiar green and blue cobalt.

"Isn't that Serena?" Adrew asked Darien with wide eyes.

"Yeah…it is." Darien answered slowly. He wasn't used to Serena with her hair down as often it was up in the meatball style. With it down she looked mature and even more innocent in a sense. Her eyes stood out much more too and even through the glass windows from the arcade, Darien could see just how beautiful she was. He was having a hard time adjusting to this side of Serena.

Unaware of the eyes of her boyfriend that followed her, Serena and the four girls entered the arcade, her gaze immediately drawn to Maxine who sat waving at them. A girl with long red hair sat in front of Maxine with her back to them. Serena gulped.

"Raven!" Rae called as she charged the seat where her sisters were sitting. The so called Raven girl looked up and turned around, her gaze directly piercing Serena. Serena felt an uneasy sensation filter through the air suddenly and she stopped a couple of paces from them as the girls hugged Raven. But through the hug, Raven's eyes pinned Serena in place and Serena found she couldn't turn away. She had been speechless in Maxine's presence but Raven had an even more enchanting air about her. She was gorgeous with deep set of fiery red eyes, a smooth classic beauty features and her hair was also ankle length. She was as tall as Maxine and her lips the color of blood. There was a heavy air around her and Serena felt pressed down by it.

Raven walked in front of Serena and extended her hand.

"Raven." She said simply, her voice bland, her face neither welcoming nor hostile. Emotionless.

Serena gingerly took the offered hand and the electricity she had felt with Hera and Maxine enveloped her whole body, this time much stronger. A gasp tore out of her throat and she felt like crumbling to the floor but for some reason she couldn't. It was as if something was holding her up against her will. When Raven withdrew her hand, she had to grab the closest table to support herself.

Then from Serena her gaze traveled to Darien and neither could he move away. She turned her gaze back to Serena.

"Do not fear me, I am not your enemy." She said and turned back to her sisters. Maxine got up and walked to Serena, hugging her before taking her to come sit by her.

"Do not mind Raven. She won't ever hurt you on purpose. She is a bit difficult to get along with but once you get to know her, you will like her." Maxine said. Serena wasn't so sure about that. The rest of the sisters sat down.

"So why did you want to meet here?" Rhea asked.

"I wanted to see those we are up against." She said. Serena looked totally confused.

The door of the arcade open, Serena didn't even have to turn around to know those who entered. Their obnoxious laughter was too high.

"We better leave." There was a sort of suppressed anger in Lava's voice now. Andrew came up to them.

"Anything I can offer you?" he asked, staring pointedly at Serena.

"I'm good for today Andrew." And she was, their earlier meal hadn't worn off yet.

"Oh. Ok, just let me know." He seemed uncomfortable.

"I will." The door to the arcade opened again and there was a hushed in the room. Serena looked up and saw the cause of the silence. Xander was walking towards them.

"Xander dearest, so kind of you to come get us." Rae said. Serena was about to get up to go greet him but Raven stood up first and walked to meet him. he folded her into an embrace and Serena felt a lump in her throat. She knew they were siblings but she also knew they weren't related by blood. They weren't at all related by blood however they loved each other like siblings. It was not impossible to think the two might like each other. Maxine got up too and like he did with Raven also hugged her.

"How have you been X?" Raven asked, a soft smile lightening her features. It was amazing, the contrast between her emotionless face and her emotion filled face. it was so warm and tender that Serena had to blink twice to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"I've been well. I'm glad the both of you have come home safely." He said.

"I hear you've already claimed my rabbit." Maxine said and Xander looked up at Serena and winked.

"Well of course." He answered and Serena smiled a tiny bit, still trying to come to terms with the possibility of Raven and Xander being an item.

"Well I'm afraid to say I'm here to snatch her away."

"Oh but you can't!"

"Oh but I can." He walked to the seat where Serena was sitting and gave her such a hurt look Serena felt bad for something she didn't know she had done.

"Where is my hug?" he asked her and Serena relaxed. She got up and stretched her hands to him for the hug but he lifted her up and spun her around. Serena forgot her anxiety for the moment and laughed gleefully. After five spins, he set her down but held her to his broad chest with his arms crossing over her stomach.

"See…we fit together so well. You can't tear us apart!" He said and Serena giggled as Maxine playfully scowled.

"Watch me take her away."

"If the two of you are done, shall we head on home now?" Raven cut in.

"You're the one who brought us here for no reason." Lava said. Raven began walking and the rest followed along but as they reached the door, it opened and standing in front of it ready to enter were the outer scouts. As soon as Trista's gaze landed on Raven's cool gaze, she tensed up visibly. All color drained out of her face and her eyes widened in surprise and what Serena suspected as freight.

The two groups stood staring at each other.

"Move, you're blocking the way." Maxine ordered coldly and for a reason they will later consider, the outers moved as if against their will.

Alethea walked past them, followed by Rae. Rhea was about to go when Rei called out Serena's name. She turned a fraction of her head to gaze her coolly and Rei narrowed her eyes.

"We have a meet tonight at the temple at 7."

"She will not make it." Raven said.

"And why not?!" Rei demanded.

"Because I said so." Raven answered coldly before stepping aside for Serena and Xander to pass with Rhea and Lava following behind. As Maxine and Raven approached Trista, they stopped.

"It seems we will be picking up what was left unfinished years ago, this time we will not loose." Raven said and they picked up their feet again and left the crown arcade behind.

For the rest of the day, Serena tried to piece together what happened. But the sisters were determined to forget having met the scouts at all. Xander took her to where he worked which she realized was an office in a huge glass building for models. She took them around the town, showing them all the places she held memories of. They arrived at the restaurant by 7 pm and they sat doing their homework and chatting about anything that came to mind. Then they had dinner and Serena was returned home with a promise to be picked up in the morning. She felt the whole afternoon was rushed and she was confused. But she was impressed with Raven; she had shut up Rei without even trying. Serena was surprised Rei had let it go and not pursuit the subject of Serena going to the meeting.

After greeting her parents when she entered the house, che climbed up the bed to her room. She opened the door into the empty, silent and dark room, stepped in and shut the door behind her. She flicked the light on and nearly screamed when from behind her she felt and saw from the corner of her eyes a burning flame. She quickly turned around and stared into two fiery eyes. She stood frozen and scared senseless. The figure of fire began to walk close to her and she was so scared she could not move or scream for help.

It pointed a figure at her.

"Crescentia." She had not seen lips moving but she knew it had come from the flame.

"Crescentia" It said again and against her will and better judgment, her body began to move forward on its own. Three inches to him, his fire blazed brightly and the scorching flame dived for her.

She screamed.

**********************************************************************************************************************

Don't forget to che out my newest story; **Eclipse**!

Read and Review^^


	5. Chapter 5 The Club

Please Read my newest fanfic. It's called **ECLIPSE**^^

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

**_Chapter Five_**

The one unpleasant emotion Darien had a always hoped to avoid in his life time was jealousy, and even if he was jealous, he had prayed to never act on it for the result could be mortifying. It was every man's right to be angry if their girlfriend was flirting with someone right before their eyes but jealousy was not logically within that range of emotions. Logically speaking, being jealous because your girlfriend is talking to another man besides just you is not normal though you are given the option of anger. Definition of jealousy is being envious, unless of course one envied his girlfriend talking to another man. Wouldn't that just means your girlfriend hasn't talked to you in a while and you are jealous of the man cause your girlfriend talks to him?

These were the thoughts circulating like winged birds in the mind of the earth prince. A week had passed since he had witnessed that disturbing scene of his girlfriend in the arms of another man and ever since then he had been following news, gossips and all information in regards to the affairs of his elusive girlfriend. He had never had a reason to fear losing Serena to another man, after all, they were soul mates and they knew their future and would have a lovely daughter together, after knowing all of that, what was there to fear? The only fear he had ever felt in regards to loosing Serena was not her heart but her life in a battle, but now he wasn't so certain anymore. He wouldn't have really been all that worried about Xander if he was a normal man, but the guy was a super model! Darien had modeled earlier in his life and knew all the perks of being a model but he had given up his modeling career. If only he hadn't quit, he would have made it into the super modeling cycle. But back then, he was too fixated on getting in college and becoming a doctor that he had shut all other possibilities. During his modeling era, if he had known Serena, would he have quit still? He wasn't sure of that answer but what he was sure of was that the guy, Xander, was using every chance he had on TV to bring notice to Serena, so people would know her importance to him.

Why? Did he love her? He had not outright said it on TV but he had left no doubt in Darien's mind especially when he came on TV walking down the red carpet to an award ceremony with Serena walking beside him as his 'date.' It had been early evening, around seven and to that particular ceremony he had been invited but had turned it down. But when he had seen Serena and Xander together along with the trails of his sisters behind them, he had had nearly choked on the coffee he had been drinking. It wasn't seeing Serena with another man that almost made him chock though that was part of it, or the trails of beautiful girls behind them, but that day which was two days after that unfortunate encounter at the arcade, he became aware of three facts: first, Serena had grown, her body had matured exceedingly past his expectations…either that or she was wearing skimpy clothes, second, Serena was extremely gorgeous…angelic and goddess like, and third of all, she looked so much like the late queen Serenity and the person she is suppose to be in the future. Her large eyes had sharpened and shaped into a beautiful slanted state that did not look out of place in her small heart shaped face like her large eyes had been, her skin was smooth and completely flawless and the grace of her birth and nobility clothed around her like a shroud of moonlight. She was exquisite, a true painting comes to life and he was now realizing this?

When the realization took firm routes in his mind, he began to suddenly understand that the future was not set in stone. Worst of, Rini had began to flicker in and out. The first he took notice of Rini's state was the day after the award ceremony. Rini and the girls had come over to his apartment and they had been coming since that uncomfortable encounter with the sisters at the arcade and Rini was lying down doing homework with her legs raised up as she hummed a low upbeat tune. Her legs, he could see through. His eyes opened large and he rubbed at it and looked again, all was well. A while later she suddenly dropped her pencil, looking confused as to how that could happen, then even Trista had noticed something was odd. After the girls left, he had phoned Trista and told her what he thought he had witnessed and she immediately went into the time stream only to return with the worst of dreadful of news, there was no future, at least one she could see. There were many futures of course yet the three likely ones she could not even glimpse at. He understood that time had changed and that Crystal Tokyo may not happen at all.

He was aware that the others, beside himself and Trista had not noticed anything. For the mean time, the two had planned to shelter the circumstances until they had talked to Serena about it. Yet all their attempts to contact her had been futile! She was never alone, even in the nights she was doing sleep over at the newbie's house or they were at her house. And the newbie's seemed to always cause some form of tension when they meet Darien and the girls that it was impossible to separate Serena from them. However things were going to change! So he thought. He and Trista had planned to meet Serena at school before school let out so they could talk to her before she walked off with her new friends, it didn't matter if they literally had to carry her away from them!

* * *

Amy, Lita, Mina, Molly and Melvin were not happy. And that unhappiness primary started that day when the newbie's transferred into their schools. But at the start of a new week, those sisters and their former friend had taken one step too far!

**Flashback**

Rei was pissed off! To be talked down to like that by such a total stranger and yet the reason for her anger was because she had been unable to talk back. It was as if she was made to obey Raven's orders! It had not helped that the others and practically all the customers at the arcade were talking about it and how for once the fiery tempered priestess had been put in her place.

Worst of all even Darien had admired Raven's air of authority!

"You'd see. She will come!" Rei said with a smug grin, she was so certain that Serena would be too afraid not to show up. For as long as Rei and Serena had been friends, Rei had played on Serena's weakness. You could hit and beat Serena until she was near death and still manage to put herself together but when merely yelled at, she quaked and gave in. The moon princess could not stand to be yelled at; it frightened her so much that Rei had to wonder if there was a reason for that. Rei had learned this weakness of Serena's during the time they were both fighting over Darien and while she had often used it unintentionally, she had also intentionally instill in Serena's mind the consequences of disobeying her. That was why Serena was always so frantic when she was late to a scout meeting; she expected her ears to be chewed off. It was a kind of fear Rei had managed to instill in her so without no doubt, Rei expected Serena to show up.

One hour

Two

Two and a half and their blond leader did not show. It was then that Rei became worried, not for that fact that something might be wrong with Serena but that she might be loosing her grip on her. They disperse without really having the meeting. The next day Rei tried everything to get in contact with Serena to scream at her but to no avail. She was being sheltered from all sides by her new friends and they had made it perfectly clear that they would protect her.

Rei was very upset.

And the scouts along with Molly and Melvin were experiencing their own discomforts at school. As expected, Serena came to school with her new friends the day after that unfortunate event at the arcade. As they sat in class waiting for the morning news to come on, they were surprised when one of the sisters' came on instead.

Maxine announced their interest in opening a new club called "All for one!" She explained that it was a club for all clubs. The scouts and the cheerleaders had scoffed at the idea, sure that it was doomed to failure. What they should have wondered was why this club was being allowed to form since the principal banned any club from being form again due to the school limited budget.

The sisters needed twenty people instead of the normal five people to join the club because of the complicated nature of it. The only requirements for joining the club was determination, dedication and a heart that liked to have fun. By the end of the day, she only had five people willing to join, two boys and three girls. The cheerleaders and other clubs that felt threatened all laughed at the sisters efforts but the sisters were not discouraged.

The next day was an assembly held to honor all new comers which were just the sisters. As they were introduced and given the opportunity to speak of themselves, they decided to use the opportunity to perform for the students so that they would see how serious the sisters were about their club and what kind of thing the club would be doing. Before they began their performance, Serena took the stage to say a few words.

And her words were: How many of you have been turned down from joining the cheerleading squad because you are not 'agile' enough? Or on the mere excuse that you were not pretty enough? How many of you have been turned down again and again from other clubs for reasons that could easily be overcome but because of their lack of faith in you, they do not even give you a chance? I am certain I am not the only one and if you really want to make something of your high school life, I promise you that the best club to join is this All for one club. The activities, the fun and the friendship that will be formed within this club is one you don't want to miss and it will be a shame if you miss your chance in joining this club because you are afraid of what others will say. I am happy to say I am a proud member of this club and even if this club has to be formed outside of this school, we will form it and show you all what you could have been a part of. So let's demonstrate to you all what this club, even with limited number of people that we have, is capable of doing. Our first performance will be a portion of a trageditic play well known and loved, please give us your attention as we bring fort Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

After her words, the whole room got quiet and the lights were turned off. It was a nit and pick of the play where they started with Romeo's lamentation over the fair Rosaline then to the mask ball, the famous balcony scene, the secret marriage, the battle between Mercutio and Tyblat and between Romeo and Tybalt, the plan to run away and finally their deaths. The sisters, playing all different parts drew the attentions of all the audience so tightly that at the end, everyone was crying. Now the drama club really had much to worry about. But they were not finished.

The play was followed by Serena singing "As I lay me down by Sophie B. Hawkins." Her voice was so soft, clear and filled with such deep emotions that the entire school was enchanted in her crystal voice. Everyone had to wonder how they had never noticed Serena had such a beautiful voice and they had missed it all this time they had known her. The scouts were especially shocked by it but not Molly and Melvin, for they knew Serena's ability to sing. She was after all a child star, well… had been until **THAT **incident.

Then finally, the performance was concluded with a dance performance that included all sorts of dances from ballroom to ballet, acro, hip hop, break dancing, cheerleading and so many other complicated dances. The performance was awesome with all the sisters and performing. The executed every movement with sharp precision, grace and an air that felt so light hearted that it drew smiles from even the cheerleaders who started out with glaring and growling. It wasn't so much about the flawlessness of the performance that drew people but the happiness radiating from the performance, the smiles and the fun they seemed to be having. Finally it came to an end and they bowed to thunderous applauses by the audience.

"We have the application one must fill in other to join us, please as you pass the door if you are interested, take a copy of it and have it fill out. This club despite all it will do does have a limited number of people we can accept, it is first come first served bases, it doesn't matter who. You have up until Monday morning before the first bell to deliver the applications and after that you will have to prove that you have the skills and capability to be in this club before you are allowed to join." Maxine said and the assembly came to its end. The sisters ran out of applications and had to go and print more for others.

The application, as Amy took one to see what it was, consisted of basic question like name, address, what the students were interested in, any illness they should be aware of and whether or not they had passports, their future careers, and a list of clubs within the club they were interested in joining and finally their parents signature unless over eighteen years old. Even Amy and the scouts along with many of the other club members were interested, it was their prides that stopped them from joining and instead choose to torment the sisters.

By the end of the day of the day, the sisters announce to having more than fifty applications and that Monday all who turned in their applications must meet Monday after school to see who got what and the final overview of the club. It was mandatory for all who wants to be part of it to show up, if not they very well might lose their chance of joining; after all, Maxine had said determination and dedication. All grade levels were allowed to join.

Finally, school closed for the weekend and the girls met at the arcade. The happiness in the arcade that afternoon was so infatuating that no one could sit still! The students were buzzing with gossips and excitement of what will happen on Monday. Mina and the others explained to the outers, Darien, Rei, Rini, Andrew and Elizabeth what the excitement was all about. Elizabeth who did not know the feud between the scouts and the sisters excitedly commented on how it sounded like a wonderful idea and if she would be allowed to join even though she was in a different school. She ran off to go call Serena about it. Back at the both, Rei too scoffed at the club but Darien didn't. He had been hearing about "Serena's angelic voice" ever since school let out and wanted to know what that was all about. Lita, Mina and Amy reluctantly confessed to Serena having an amazing voice, even more so than Rei who was an actually singer and had sold CD's of her music. Rei was unhappy about that and Mina was unhappy that Serena could actually dance better than her.

"Well it is only to be expected after all." Molly commented as she sipped on her orange soda drink. Her words caught all their attention.

"What is expected?" Darien asked. Molly looked up and blinked.

"You don't know?" she asked. She had thought all that time they knew about Serena's past.

"Know what?" Amara asked.

"Serena was a child star." Melvin said. They all stared at the couple for a few minutes in silence.

"WHAT!??!" they finally burst out in shock. Molly sighed; she wondered just how much of herself Serena had kept away from the scouts. After all, she had been worrying that Serena liked the girls more than her after she became friends with them and left Molly alone. To think that of all this time, only those who knew her from the past were still the only ones who knew her. Serena had not abandoned her for the girls, but she might have abandoned her for her new friends. The thought hurt Molly so much that she buried it into the safety of her unconsciousness.

"Well as you well know, I grew up with Serena, from birth as we were born in the same year and I am just two months older than her. Her mother is my mother's best friend and her father was my father's best friend so the two families were really close. When we were born, that year our parents decided to celebrate our birth with a trip to Hawaii, it was there that Serena was discovered. From diapers to playing a new born baby in movies, Serena grew up in the lime light. Competing in beauty pageants and never once lost. She was titled the most beautiful child in history. She went under the guise Serenity Goddess and back then she had silver hair." When Molly said this, the others looked at each other sharply and the wheel in their heads began to turn. Molly noticed their reaction but figured it was due to shock and she was partially right.

"In fifth grade, something terrible happen and Serena had to drop out of the media attention. Her hair was dyed gold and we were told to keep everything about Serena secret. Back then Serena was often in the US but she dropped out of famous business, she had never been taken back to the US for fear of someone recognizing her and bringing up old issues." Molly finished and they sat watching her. When it became evident she was done with her story, they probed her for more information but she refused to tell them what that terrible incident was.

"That you will have to ask Serena herself, if she remembers." Was all she said to their probing.

"Don't you know anything Melvin?" they turned on Melvin then and he shook his head.

"Ever since I was a kid, I had always been nosy. When suddenly Serenity goddess was no longer there, many people were upset. There was no reason, no explanation and all the kids show she was involve in had to be dropped. At the time she was the star of a very popular kid show called Serenity's treasure."

"Oh I used to watch that like every day!" Mina exclaimed.

"Yeah…me too!" Lita said.

"Same here." Rei said.

"And I must confess, I used to love that show. I mean it was kids show but for some reason I always felt drawn to it." Darien said.

"I think it safe to say we were all rather addicted to that show." Trista said and no one denied it.

"I wish I could see it too." Hotaru said sadly.

"What was it about?" Rini asked.

"Well it was about how the greatest treasures in the world were not the possessions of wealth and power but the things we cannot touch with our bare hands but must be felt. In every episode, she thought one valuable lesson, how the smile of someone is most precious than all the money of the world, how the setting sun was a priceless treasure, why communication was important and so on and so forth. She was adorable and when you watched her show, you sincerely felt that money wasn't important, that family and friends was all that you really needed." Trista explained.

"Yes. The only time I ever fitted in among my classmates was when they were talking about Serenity and whatever episode or movie she was in. in that I could get involve and I wouldn't be ignored. She was my salvation and I wanted to meet her so badly!" Amy said, tears in her eyes as she recalled her childhood memories.

"But then she disappeared and after a whole year of waiting, I finally accepted that she wasn't coming back. The worst part of it was that no one knew why. The whole world was going in uproar, newspapers demanded answers, weird stories were going around and she was even claimed to be dead. Worst of all, every product of hers were being recalled, DVD's, stuff toys, cups, bowls, bags…everything. CD's of her songs, website with pictures and performance of hers were being shut down. Two years later there was no sign at all that there had been a child star called Serenity Goddess. Ones in a while someone would say they had found her and all hope would rise only to collapse again. It was infuriating, eventually talk of her calm down and people moved on to other stars. But I had never forgotten that beautiful girl with her angelic voice and charming smile. Her bright personality and the laughter that bubbled out of her mouth like the sounds of twinkling bells. I still have all my videos, posters and everything of hers. I put them all in a trunk after two years of her absence and decided to move on too." Amy said with a sad sigh.

"I had figured out that Serena was serenity in grade one when we first met, she gave off that same feeling Serenity used to give. And she made me promise to keep it a secret. I had not been there to witness what had happened; it was during the summer of our fifth grade year (please keep in mind that Japanese people have a different school year system and their years is a lot longer than the American system). Molly was on a tour with Serena in the United State and when they came back, which was much earlier than planned, I had to beg Molly before she told me what happened. And I realized that I had to keep quiet about it too, for Serena's sake. The nightmare haunted me for days and when I understood that all traces of her had to be erased, I helped out by crashing websites or sending viruses and all. Even then I was a geek and I was able to use my skills to help her as best as only a child could. All talk of Serenity seized and we lived our lives pretending that Serena had never been Serenity or that Serenity had never existed" Melvin sighed and they all grew silent.

The next day was a Saturday and like normal, they met at Lita's house to bake sweets but the air suddenly felt cold. None of them could stop staring at the clock as if waiting for Serena to burst in out of breath and giving excuses of why she was late. It began to dawn on them that they had excluded Serena out of their group for over a month but no one was willing to voice it out.

After they finished their baking, they went over to Darien's house and the outers joined them and they ate together. They turned on the TV and the first thing the saw was Raven. This let to Rei cursing the girl on TV and the others voicing their displeasure of the rest of the sisters. They seemed to enjoy their defaming of the sisters and that kept them entertained until they parted ways to go home. The live award ceremony was coming on and they all wanted to watch in their own homes as they lay on their beds. Their jaws dropped when the award ceremony began and they watched as celebrities walked down the red carpets. But the dropping of their jaws due to seeing Serena, so magnificently dressed beside Alexander as his date with the Sisters following behind looking more gorgeous than any human being had the right to look. Jealousy crept into the Inners. Serena did not at all look like she didn't belong among those famous people, in fact looking at her, it felt like they were the ones who didn't belong. Her hair was down and heavily curled. Her eyes they noticed had gotten smaller in size and the shade of color had darkened. The dress, pure golden or yellow in color and identical to Belle's from beauty and the beast sparkled with gems of gold, rubies, and lots of pink diamonds! Around her neck was a circular necklace of pink diamond on a gold chain that did not fall on her chest but stayed right on her neck. On her head she wore a small gold crown, which was acted as a hair pin to keep the little bun that was raised at the top of her head in place. The crown too had pink diamonds on it. Her ears were adorned in ear rings of pink diamonds and pink diamond bracelets hanged around her legs though she would have to lift the dress to reveal it and the beautiful golden glass shoes with its adornments of pink diamonds and rubies. Her wrist needed no bracelet cause from her upper arm and over her fingers were covered with a golden glove that had pink diamond lining the entrance. The front of her face was framed with a little of her hair and apart from the bund standing at the top of her head, the rest of her hair were curled and left loose at her back. Her lips glistened like the sunset at it pinkest and she smiled with radiance most blinding. And she walked with the grace of a queen. Their reaction was simultaneous! They all stood up staring at the TV as if Serena was right there in their rooms and they had to be at attention. They will later reflect on why they had acted like that as if they were greeting….the late Queen Serenity!

The limousine the sisters and Serena along with Alex came out of was decorated from head to toe in glistening diamonds! The awe the felt was equally matched at the award ceremony where everyone gazed at them. Every star had come thinking they were the best dressed but looking at the sisters, Serena and Xander, they felt that their attempts were futile.

The scouts watched attentively to the entire program in awe as the sisters and Xander won awards after awards for best actresses or singers, best movie of the year and so on and on. Finally it all came to an end and they still watched the TV until not a single trace of the sisters could be seen. Serena had been nominated the most beautiful person at the ceremony and won the price for it, she had blushed crimson which had made her even more beautiful than she realized. And alongside her Xander had won the best male dressed and Raven had won female best dressed.

Finally, the scouts turned off their lights for the night but found it difficult to sleep, Serena's shining image burned in their minds like a bright fire. Finally tired out from tossing and turning, they fell into deep slumber in the wee hours of the morning.

And thus the weekend passed in gossips about Serena and the sisters who people now referred to as The Family of Beauties or The beauties for short.

* * *

**End of Flashback**

Serena was most excited! After their fail attempts at recruiting people on the first day when they announced their club, she had been downhearted but the sisters were not. They were in a happy mood which baffled Serena. After returning home that day, Serena had understood why. The next day was an assembly to welcome all new students; there the sisters planned do a performance that would definitely inspire the students to join. They debated on what they could do, skating was definitely out. in the end they chose to do three things; play, song and dance.

Serena felt terrible that she could do any of it but still supported them. When she was asked why she couldn't she explained that she had never acted seriously before and singing was out of her league and as clumsy as she was, it would be impossible for her too keep up with the sisters in dancing. There was a flash of intuition in the sisters' eyes but whatever they were thinking was not voiced out.

"Serena we cannot do this without you. you will practice with us and we will see what we can do from there ok?" Maxine said gently and Serena nodded mutely.

"Good, now let's start with acting. How familiar are you with Romeo and Juliet."

"That's the play you want to do?" Serena asked with surprise.

"It's a well known one so for starters yes, that is what we want to do."

"Well I know the story but learning the words will be impossible. I cannot do it in one day. And I will freeze in front of the crowd! Please, let me try the other two!" she begged. But she had a different reason for not wanting to do Romeo and Juliet, it reminded her too much of her own circumstances and that whole soul mate thing would make her too sad. The sisters, seeing her dilemma did not question her.

To determine the quality of her voice, she was told to sing her favorite song and after blushing and hiding her face, she let out a pure note as she sang "As I lay me down by Sophie B. Hawkins."

"You don't need any help with singing." Raven commented. Serena blinked; even she was outstanded by the purity of the voice that came out of her mouth. She had never sung so beautifully before! Alexander who had been watching their progress from afar nearly choked on the water he was drinking. Her voice, so pure and innocent called out something in him. His chest began to hurt as if something wanted to get out. A fierce possessiveness overcame his senses. He wanted to pick Serena up, kiss the daylight out of her and keep her voice to himself. He began to move toward her; only Hera's restraining hand returned his mind back to reality and released him of the sudden fever of need that had gripped him.

He blinked.

"What did I just do?" he asked uncertainly.

"Nothing. Not yet at least." Hera murmured before looking up at him with a smile. "You were just enchanted by her voice as we were."

He blinked and smiled sheepishly.

"I thought the best singers were my own sisters but…" he said and traced off as his mind recalled the moment Serena's gentle voice pierced his mind.

"Yes, Serena is very special indeed." Hera said. To this Xander smiled fully.

"She really is!" he said and blushed madly. Hera looked at him gravely for few minutes before turning her gaze away.

"You…you really love her don't you?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know what love is. All I know is that I want to always be with her, I want to see her smile at me. I want to hear her laughter. I want her to think mostly of me, to treasure me as I do her, I want her to see only me, to be happy especially with me and…I want to kiss her." he said, blushing again. Hera glanced at him sideways and looked away again.

"I'm sure in time she will return your affections." She said softly.

"I hope so too! Call me when dinner is ready, I've got some files to fill." He said and she nodded before he took off to his room in a happy mood. Hera stood where she was and sighed.

"Tough keeping secrets isn't it?" Cassie said as she came to stand beside Hera.

"How can I tell him that it would be impossible for Serena to be with him even if she loved him?"

"It's not impossible Hera." Cassie said.

"But…Endymion is dead!" Hera contradicted.

"Yes and no. Watch, everything will be ok. I will make sure Serena ends up with her rightful soul mate or dye trying!" Cassie said and silence descended on the both of them. Heavy thoughts brewed in their minds as they watched the girls on the ground practicing their dancing.

Serena also realized that dancing came rather easy for her. She wondered why that was and again the flash of intuition crossed the sisters' faces. This time Serena noticed but said nothing. She had come to suspect that the sisters were more than they appeared to be and were keeping secrets from her. She so badly wanted to be a part of them but as long as they kept her at arm's length it would be impossible. Until the opened up to her fully, she would be wise to stay at the arms length and not demand answers. She was certain that they meant her no harm, not even Raven who barely talked to. She had become good friends with Maxine though but it was no secret that there seemed to be a little bit of distance between her and Maxine and especially Raven. But she had noticed that whenever they met the scout in school or outside, it was Raven who took to protecting her. Serena could not make ends of Ravens odd behavior but she was sure that Raven was a good person and that that was just the way she was.

With practice over, they all went to shower before sitting for dinner. The first time Serena had been brought to their house, her jaw had dropped in amazement and even after having spent two nights there already, she was still baffled by what she was seeing. The sisters lived in a huge mansion that had 22 bedrooms, bath rooms in every room, five large kitchens and five small ones with an indoor and outdoor pool, Jacuzzis, theater rooms, a bar stand where they served non-alcoholic fruit wines, gaming rooms, resting rooms, 3 ball rooms, 2 big libraries (one for books and the other for movies, books on tapes, CD's and electronic books) 3 dining rooms, cosmetics rooms as well as a closet room that was as big as a store! They had an outdoor tennis, volleyball, soccer and basket ball court and behind the huge mansion was an even bigger gym with courts for all except football! The grand tour had ended with Serena's jaw aching from dropping so much. Cassie explained that they had inherited the house from their parents and the every year since she had been five, the house was expanded and something new was always added to it when it became necessary. She said if Serena had anything she wanted to add to it, she had just to say it and they would add it to it. But after all that she had witnessed, what else were they missing? They even had a computer room where there were about three hundred flat screen computers and an Icee room which served frostys, ice creams, ices and anything ice related!

When she asked where they came up with the money for that, they just said that their parents left them with a large sum of unbelievable money and of course the jobs they do too also provide quite a bit of money. They even had 4 private islands of their own, private planes, limousines, cars and so on. They said they invested their money in big business under different names and that was when Serena realized that many of the major oil and other big corporation were actually owned by them. But even through all that, they had never neglected to do charity as Serena also learned that they had built several orphanages, hospitals and libraries in suffering countries. Yet Serena sensed that there was more too how they were so filthy rich but she kept those comments to herself. It was no good to blow up their friendship with suspicion at such an early stage.

As they sat eating dinner, the conversation changed from school activities to an award ceremony the sisters had to attend. Serena was so surprised that they wanted her to go but she accepted their invite. The next day, the spent the entire morning and afternoon combing through that big closet of clothing and the store to find something grand for Serena to wear.

"After all, this is will serve as your debut to society!" Laverna had said gallantly. It was then that Serena came across a dress that was identical to Belle's from beauty and the beast. From all the Disney characters, Belle was her favorite Disney princess. And the dress looked exactly like hers in its bright yellow color. Seeing how fascinated Serena was with the dress, Cassie called a halt to the searching and said she had found something for Serena so they should focused on their make ups and such so she can do some alteration to the dress.

While she worked on the dress, the rest of them took their showers, did the nails, styled their hairs and relaxed until it was time to dress and Cassie brought out the redone dress of belle's. Serena was shocked at the changes with all the gems and diamonds! The craftsmanship was ingenious! It was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen in her life and she was supposed to wear it.

She then claimed that if that dress was hers, she'd hang it on her wall for decoration instead! They laughed at that thinking she was joking when in fact she was rather serious.

After they had completely finished dressing, she looked at herself in the mirror and did not recognize the sexy goddess staring back at her.

**_This is me?_** She thought in wonder.

"You are just as bad as your friends in putting yourself down." Hera said and Serena realized that she was right. She had taken into her mind what the scouts had always said about her that she had lost her own view of herself and thus her confidence had plundered.

**_But not tonight!_** She thought confidently. "Tonight I will show the whole world that I, Serena Tsukino, am of royal blood!" She wasn't aware that she had spoken out loud but silently, the sisters agreed with her

When Xander had finally seen her that night, he couldn't control his reaction. He kissed her.

Hard and deep his tongue plunged into her mouth. Taken by surprise, Serena stood silently until her body responded to the kiss and his gentle press at her back and head. She leaned up on her toes and returned the kiss wholeheartedly. From behind the sisters coughed and hid smiles. Raven commented for them to get a room while Laverna hooted and cheered before saying, "Lets strip her!"

That caught the kissing couple interest and they broke their kiss, laughing uncontrollably.

"Well Lady Serena, care to accompany me as my date?" Xander asked.

"I will be most honored kind sir." Serena said before taking his offered arm.

The ceremony had gone on smoothly and she had even won an award! Serena was supper excited and when she returned home, like the sisters did after they finished dressing, her parents took loads of pictures before she took off the dress. And to her delight, Cassie said the dress was now hers. Still as beautiful as when she had first saw it, she hanged it up on her wall like a decoration and the sister had laughed as they realized she had been serious about what she had said.

Picking up her night gowns and other things she would need, she left the house with the sister to their home for another sleep over. It seems every night was a sleepover with the sisters. On the Sunday night, the sister came to sleep at her house instead with the exception of Xander (who was rather unhappy about it), Cassie, Alex, Maeve and Raven.

*******************

Finally Monday rolled over and to school they went, receiving more applications. Serena could not wait for school to be over. The expectations that hanged in the air, the awe the students stared at the sisters and Serena with. Even the scouts along with molly and Melvin felt the expectation.

But for Serena time was dragging her feet and she literally had to grit her teeth and clench her hands to prevent herself from throwing something at the clock.

**_It's moving so damn slow!_** She thought with frustration when in fact they only had five minutes of class time before the school day came to an end.

Finally, those torturous five minute came and the bell rung. She jumped up and screamed "YES!" in her excitement. People turned amused eyes on her and she sank slowly down her seat as she tried to bury herself. Chuckles and giggles went around good naturedly.

"Well, now we all know how much she loves my class." Their teacher, Mr. Ryou, said teasingly and the whole class laughed.

"You may go first since you are in such a hurry." he said kindly to Serena and gratefully, she picked up her bag and speed out of the classroom with laughter following behind her. The sisters were quick to follow and then the whole class followed suit. Bodies were cramped in the hall way like never before as people tried to hurry up and be the first to meet at the gym where the first meeting of the new club would be held. The excitement was infectious!

The sisters and Serena went to the principal office to show him the number of members they had just to verify things one more time before they headed off to the gym where people waited for them. As soon as they entered, cheers greeted them and Serena laughed at the happiness all around.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Laverna said with a smirk. Taking Serena's hand, the rushed to stand in front of everyone.

"Hey guys…thank you so much for joining us." Laverna said in greeting.

"Yes…lets all work together to create a fun and productive high school life ok!" Serena contributed.

"YES!" the students cheered.

"Well here are the rules. If anyone cannot follow the rules, you are welcome to leave." Maxine said as she began to explain the purpose of the club, what they will be doing and the likes. As she talked, the rest of the sisters and Serena helped along with words here or there. When she mentioned picking up garbage and cleaning the city once ever month, more than half of the students stood up and left. But still there were almost fifty people sitting on the bleachers. Before she could continue, someone cleared their throat at the entrance of the gym and they turned to see who had so rudely interrupted. At the door stood the scouts (in their civilian for of course) and Darien. As he made his way to Serena, the sisters formed a semi circle around Serena and steadily as to not give away the torrents of emotion within her at seeing him, she stood still and let him approach.

"We are sorry to interrupt you club activities but I do need Serena right now." Darien said. He had not missed the protective way the sisters hovered around Serena. Once again, he wondered what the girls were to Serena.

"She is busy." Raven said.

"This is urgent." Darien said under his breath as he tried to keep in check his anger.

"I'm sure but it can wait. Serena, please continue from where Maxine left off." Raven said, turning her back on Darien and the scouts. While Serena would have been happy to do as Raven wanted, she realized that turning the scouts out every time they wanted to talk would solve nothing.

"Maxine, I'm sorry. I'll be right back, please continue without me." She said and as she moved. Laverna made to follow but she shook her head at the taller girl and silently walked after Darien and the scouts.

"Alright everyone, lets continue." Maxine said as if a strange scene had not just taken place. Raven slowly moved herself to the back and leaned on a wall. Her hands clenched and relaxed as if she was fighting something. Alethea went to her and stood silently by her side for a while.

"You know she didn't mean any harm by following them instead of listening to you." Alethea said.

"She's a fool."

"Raven!" Alethea said in surprise and a bit of anger.

"Well isn't she?! This is what we came here for? To be rejected a second time?"

"She has not rejected us." Alethea said through clench teeth. Raven scoffed and mock laughed.

"Have all the faith you want in her but in the end, she will prove to be no better than her mother. I am sick and tired of this waiting, this constant trying and failing. If you guys want her so badly to rule over you then go ahead and waste all your efforts on someone whom your existence means nothing to be I am through. I will not be a part of this any longer."

"Raven!"

"I'm going home. Tell that to the others." She said and began to walk away. Alethea stood silent as she tried to contain the hopelessness that threatened to overwhelm her.

_Please, please don't let this be another disappointment. I, we cannot handle another rejection._ She cried inwardly though on her face nothing revealed her painful sorrow.

* * *

Serena followed Darien and the girls to a safe distance away. She wondered why Rei, Amara, Michelle, Rini and Hotaru were not there but she didn't ask.

"This is far enough. What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice devoid of all emotions.

"Mina, Amy and Lita, can you give us a bit of space?" Trista asked.

"Sure." Amy said and they walked a distance away from hearing range.

"Care to explain to us what is going on?" Darien asked and Serena raised her brow.

"Do YOU care to explain to me what exactly you mean by what is going on?"

"These new girls. This sudden distance you've put between us and why you are with them 24/7?"

"Ah that. No, I really don't want to explain anything neither do I owe you any explanation. If that is all you came for then I must return to the gym. We are forming a new club and it will be a poor example if one of the founders was not there on their first meeting." She made to turn but Darien gripped her hand.

"On the count of ten, if you don't release my arm I will.."

"You will what?" he taunted. Angered, a bolt of electricity shot through her arm and slammed into him like a wall. He flew several feet back. Inwardly, Serena was shocked but she did not let that shock show on her face.

No, that was not my doing. She realized. She had not been responsible for the lightening but whatever it was, she wasn't sure if she should be grateful or angry.

"Darien!" Trista and the other girls screamed as they ran to his fallen highness. Serena stood where she was and waited until they stopped fretting over him and they approached her again, this time careful of the distance the put between them and Lita, Amy and Mina were not so far away. Darien looked at her with wide eyes that spoke of hurt and anger, but mostly he was in disbelief. Disbelief that Serena would hurt him.

"Ok, let's try this again." Trista said warily. "Serena, things are happening that is becoming complicated. First of all, we are your guardians." Serena snorted.

"Granted we've been a bit preoccupied with our own affairs but don't tell me you will throw away all we've been through for these girls you don't even know!" Serena didn't say anything.

"Thirdly Serena, you don't know these people!"

"And you do?"

"A lot more than you do."

"Oh really, let's hear it." Trista shook her head and sighed.

"Just trust me Serena, they are not as they seem."

"Let me be the judge of that." Serena replied coldly. Trista just stared at her and shook her head.

"I really wish you know what you are getting yourself involve in."

"Is that all you came to do? Warn me about my friends?" Serena asked sarcastically.

"No. I came to tell you that Rini needs you right now. You need to move away from your friends so that you can be with your daughter."

"Future daughter."

"Same thing."

"No Trista, it is not the same thing. Lately I cannot help but think I want a normal future. Crystal Tokyo holds no value to me time keeper."

"So what? You will watch Rini die? If you don't know already then I will tell you but your daughter is starting to vanish. Which means because of the decisions you are making now by being with your so called friends, the future is changing. You will kill an innocent girl, you own daughter for such selfish reasons."

"Listen to yourself talk. You sound like a preacher who is against abortion and is giving a sermon on it. I HAVE NO DAUGHTER Trista. I am ONLY a sixteen year old girl. Show me any proof that I have been pregnant and that I had had a baby. When things are not going as you want them to go, you suddenly come to me blaming me for them. Who were the ones that pushed me away from you guys? Who were the ones who ignored me and abused every confidence I had in myself. I am nothing more to you than a weapon to be used to achieve your ends and means. If Rini dies, it won't be my fault, oh no, it will not be my fault. Cause you know why? I tried to be a good mother, I tried to be a good girlfriend, friend, leader and princess but nothing I did could please any of you. And no one bothered to give me a helping hand so excuse me for seeking love and attention elsewhere. Do not waste my time with such trivial matters again!" She said with blazing eyes before she turned around and began to walk away.

"Serena!" Darien called but she did not stop though her mind screamed for her to stop, to rush to him and hug him. But she could not; the time for making a fool out of her was over. Yet images of Rini flickering in and out of existence burned like a bright flame in her mind and even as she tried to find excuses to justify why Rini should not be born, she could not help but feel the terrible sorrow of lose.

As she rounded the corner, she saw Raven coming her way and she hurried on her way to stand in front of the girl.

"I'm sorry but I thought it was best to hear them out first." She apologized with her head up but when no one replied and she looked up, Raven had walked past her.

"Raven please!" she said, turning to follow the red haired girl.

"Raven, please listen to me." Serena said and reached to grab Raven's hand. Raven violent pulled her hand away and turned a deadly glare on her.

"Don't you ever touch me again." She hissed and Serena stopped short. A part of her was frightened by violence she saw in the other girl but another more larger felt a sense of lose, a lose so profound that it snuffed off all other emotions. Raven turned around and walked away, leaving Serena rooted to the floor. From the shadows of the hall way, Laverna stood silently and watched the exchanged with conflicting emotions. It had been Raven who had brought them to Serena but she did no longer have any faith in Serena, were they too suppose to give up? She hoped Cassie could provide some comforting answers when they returned home. IN the mean time, she would try what she could to cheer up the dejected princess of the moon.

* * *

Don't forget to che out my newest story; **Eclipse**!

Read and Review^^


	6. Chapter 6 Mysterious Faces

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

_**Chapter six - Mysterious Faces**_

Raven was gone. She took the plane back to Europe that very day. When they returned home, the sisters learned of this and were very unhappy at the news.

"Why?!" Laverna asked in frustration. While Serena did not know it, that why implied more than just why the girl had decided to leave. Even Cassie was a bit disturbed.

Alex shrugged.

"You know her, she always do as she pleases with regards to no one." She said.

"But still…to leave without a warning. Did she mention coming back?" Alethea asked.

"All she said was that it was time she retired." A growl of frustration emerged out of Laverna.

"Will she stop doing as she likes and just help us out?!" Laverna yelled before walking off and slamming the door shut behind her. Serena felt absolutely horrible. She had no doubt that Raven had left because of her earlier actions. But why? She wasn't allowed to talk to the scouts if she was with the sisters? She was now starting to understand the division that was starting to form.

"Raven knows what she is doing." Maxine said softly.

"Don't defend her Maxi" Alethea said. She was very upset.

"I am not but I am not one to doubt her either." Maxine said before following Lava out the living room.

"She left because of me right?" Serena asked sorrowfully.

"What do you mean?" Maeve asked and Alethea explained the encounter from earlier.

"Mmm…Serena, Raven is a very puzzling character to get to know but I promise you she is not a bad person. And I doubt she left for such a childish reason." Cassie said comfortably. Still Serena was not convinced.

"I'll go and change." Alethea said and also walked out. There was a tension in the house Serena did not like at all and she felt at fault for it. At that moment she didn't want to be there anymore.

"Well I will head home to change too." She said though she had packed changing clothes in her bag for later.

"I will drop you home." Alex offered

"No no no. It's quite alright. It's just about thirty minutes walk. I want to walk." She protested.

"No sweetie, it's a forty five minutes' walk. Give me us a sec to change and take you home." Cassie said but Serena could not tolerate the idea of causing them more inconvenience.

"No it's alright. I really just want to walk home today. Anyway, see you guys later!"

"Wait…" Maeve began but she was out of the house before she could finish. I heard someone call out my name but I didn't stop, I just kept on running. I run and run until I ran out of breath and had to stop to catch some air.

She didn't really want to walk home but it was better than being in that uncomfortable atmosphere. She supposed it was just an act of cowardice but still…she could not help but feel sorry. She had said she wanted to speak with Darien and the girls because it would solve nothing to keep hiding from them but in all honesty, she had only wanted to show off the new confidence in herself. She didn't know why raven felt the need to keep her away from the scouts but one thing she knew was that Raven always had a reason for her actions. She had only tried to protect her and instead her effort was shaken off.

Maybe if she had listened to her then Darien wouldn't have been hurt. Thinking about the mysterious lightning bolt that had erupted and knocked Darien away, her skin crawled. That power had not been her own that she was sure of. It had magic in it which was another thing that surprised her. She was the only one with true magic, something even the scouts had failed to notice.

The scouts did not have magic in their physical powers and it had always bothered Serena why that was so. Their powers always felt empty, devoid and without cause. A brutal energy that only thinks of killing and destroying. Sometimes she was even amazed that the scouts could control their powers so well without it hurting them. But because their powers lacked magic, it was not as strong as it could be. One attack even of Mercury's bubble blast should be enough to immediately and effectively kill an opponent but that never seem to be the case. And sometimes even all their combine efforts did not produce much of a result.

At first, it had been that their only explanation was because their princess was yet to be found but she had been found and that problem had never changed. It was only recently; after the battle with Galaxia, did the scouts begin to use magic in their powers. They used it but Serena would bet on her life that they had no idea they were using magic. Of course another explanation was that because even though they had began to use magic, it was so small that it seemed none existence and only of those deeply in tune with the magic world could ever trace it. But that little magic they had gain after that deadly battle had waned out and faded as of late. And they were back to square one and still they did not realize it.

How that electric attack was of deep magic…strong and powerful was beyond her. Was it possible that there was someone out there capable of such magic and if so who? What worried her most was the element that had come within the lightning attack. It had a hint of familiarity to Serena, a familiarity that was very similar to Jupiter's attacks. There had been a quiet roar within the power that was tempering with Serena's memories. She felt she had to remember something but what it was she did not know and it bothered her.

She was so lost in thought that she ended up crashing into someone. But before she could fall with closed eyes, strong hands from behind caught her and studied her. She looked up and gasped.

Her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

* * *

Raven walked down the lonely streets of England. At that time of the day, most people were inside having dinner with their families. There were only few people outside and that was the best time of the day for her. The scenes passed her like slide shows, from the brick walls of the houses to the beautifully decorated markets to the deserted parks until finally she stopped under a lonely fall tree littered with leaves of all colors. She stood there and stared into the sky as the wind blew her long hair around her in a dance that embraced her face. She was a sight to behold and all that saw her paused to stare as if they've never seen anything beautiful in their lives.

Her heart and mind was loaded with fear, pain and doubts. It always fell back on her to get them out of depression, to give them hope and to keep them together but she was tired. So so very tired. Her heart was battered and torn. She had given up her all for the women she calls her sisters. She had reached her limit, all the strength she had in her was gone. What was the point of having hope when it only leads to pain and disappointments?

Her eyes took on a distant look as her thoughts raced back in time to the moment when all she had believed, all she had known came crushing down. She could still remember it like it was yesterday. Remember the event as well as the pain, the anger and absolute hate that had consumed her very soul. If it hadn't been for Maxine, she would have brought to an end the planet she was born to rule.

"Are you giving up?" If it had been anyone whose thoughts had been so rudely interrupted, they would have jumped out of their skin but Raven didn't bat an eye. No matter how far she lost herself in anything, her feet were always rooted to the floor. This was the power of the bird of flame and in her that flame burned brighter than any star.

She sighed and continued staring as if she had not just been asked a question.

"Are you just going to give up like that without a fight?" The voice asked again, a part of it edged with anger.

"Go away."

"Rav"

"I said to go away!" she snapped and glared at him but he did not move. "Urgh!" she huffed and turned to walk away. The person followed her.

"Our prince is in danger!"

"I don't give a rat's ass about him. He died long ago, let him rest."

"You know better than that!"

"I know you are upsetting me."

"Raven please? I need you, we need you. SHE needs you. If you leave her to those blasted scouts, they will kill her!"

"Apparently it's with them she wants to be with, it doesn't concern me."

"Doesn't it?" she turned and fixed him with a firm stare.

"It doesn't" She said resolutely and vanished into thin air. The man stood staring at the place where Raven had stood just a second ago and shook his head. After all they'd been through, she would just throw all that hard work alive when their goal was right under their noses. He probably wouldn't care himself, he thought, but the life of the earth prince was involved and as long as Endymion was being held prisoner, it was up to her to protect his prince's princess. And hopefully find a way to free his master.

He sighed and walked off, his mind heavy with plots and ideas.

* * *

It was in a quiet cave in a deserted beach that a magical flamed burned with the radiance of the sun and the warmth of an embrace. It was neither the flame which had no source of the heat that was so fascinating but the man or shape of a man in the midst of the flame. His outline was a man of broad shoulders, long floor length hair, tall with prominent cheekbones. This man sat by the cave walls with the fire burning around and through him yet he was unharmed. Several inches from him laid Serena whose head was cushioned against a pillow sound asleep. The man's attention was strictly directed on the sleeping girl, he traced the contours of her face with his piercing glare, baring her whole body naked under his flaming gaze.

His expression was of intrigue and amusement and as much as he wanted her to wake up and see him, he was also content to just stare at his beautiful sleeping princess. Though he worried that she might react as she had at their earlier encounter.

He had meant to approach her gently but seeing her had tossed that idea out of his head. It was the speed he had used to charge at her which had made her scream so loud that her parents appeared in the room seconds later. That was why he was keeping a distance from her as she slept, not much of a distance as he couldn't stand being away from her, but enough of a distance that she would not freak if she were to wake.

As always she was silent sleepy, only the rise and fall of her chest and the whisper of air out of her nose gave of the impression of sleep and not death. It had been ages since he had last held her, well, it felt like ages anyways. His power may have been cut down by the prison the rulers of the planets had placed him at but he had always found a way to come into her life, one form or another. Until he had what he wanted, until all the wrong is rightened and all the secrets and lies resolved, he would make sure she was safe and those blasted rulers pay for what they had done to her. The earth was about to face a future they weren't ready for but he could care less. To him the only thing that mattered was his princess.

On the floor of the cave, Serena stirred. The man sat still and watched her with held in breath. Her lids fluttered as if a drop of water had touched it but it was reluctant to open fully. She moaned and made to turn around but stopped. There was a brief moment of confusion on her face, then her eyes flew open in a heart beat. She sat up quickly and blinked. One hand came up to her head, her face puzzled and she wiped her face with that hand.

"Wha…" she looked around, her head doing 360 degree turn.

He laughed.

Her head snapped back around to where her ears had picked up the sound of laughter and her eyes opened wide upon recognition. Fear made itself known in her heart and on her face and she quickly scooted back.

"You!" she said loudly, her eyes unable to believe what it was seeing.

"Yes me. What about me." He said, there was amusement in his voice as well as mockery and Serena forgot her fears. She hated to be mocked.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?!" she snapped. The man looked at her for a minute, his face hidden by the flame expressed pain and sorrow.

"You really do not remember me." He whispered.

"What was that?" she asked, standing up with open legs and her hands crossed over her chest. The man stood up too and turned fully to her. He took one step her direction and her defiant stance began to crumble. He took another step and she stepped back.

"Don't come anywhere near me!" she yelled fearfully, looking from the corners of her eyes and exit out of the cave she was in. she would run if she saw the opening.

"Serenity…" he said her name and she blinked.

"How do you know my name?" This made her all the more suspicious. His steps were no longer short. With long strides he approached her and she turned on the balls of her heels and made to run.

"Crescentia!" He yelled and she came to an abrupt stop. Something in her body, or soul or heart she couldn't be sure resonated with the name and a gasp escaped her lungs. She turned around only to have his face right in front of her. She tried to step back but his lips landed on hers and she forgot everything.

Something began to burn.

Her clothes where fine, hair untouched, body not burned but inside her something was awakening. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in against him. He held her tightly against his body as he deepened the kiss. He exalted in the feeling of her in his arms again but he knew time was up for him.

He drew away.

"No!" she gasped desperately and he gently caressed her face.

"It is not I who wishes to leave you Crescentia. Until all is well, you cannot be awakened." He said. Serena's blue eyes turned into crimson flame and staring out of it was someone or something. He gasped at the familiar colored eyes but as soon as he touched her cheeks, Serena's eyes returned to normal.

"No!" it was his turn to gasp so desperately. The flame around him exploded in angry his. The flame danced around them and in one big flare it disappeared, along with Serena and the flame man.

* * *

Xander felt drunk though he did not drink. His movements were clumsy and he had to grasp onto things to prevent himself from falling. His head was pounding with a merciless headache and his chest burned as if he was having a heart attack. His breathing was labored, his eyes wide and wondering nonstop as he staggered himself through the back side of the streets so people wouldn't notice.

What's happening to me? He wondered and leaned up against the side of a building. He raised his hand up and his eyes widened even more at the transparency of his hand. He could literally see through his hand to the other side.

"What is this!?" He gasped out loud. A sudden pain in his chest and stomach had him moaning in pain and crouched on the floor to hold on to his stomach. His body began to react in odd way. It was as if something was trying to come outside his body, his skin was tearing from within and he writhed on ground like a snake burning. He gasped and moaned, sweat draping down his face.

His hands suddenly came to his neck, trying to grab on to something there as if a rope was there and it was chocking him. Chocking sounds emanated from his throat. All the color of his eyes went white.

His mind was a whirlpool of spots. Like a black canvas with dotted white spots. Like the skin of Dalmatians. But canvas began to change and the white doted spots began to combine. The canvas of his mind was still black but as the white dots began to attach themselves to each other; it took shape in the form of a man. A man with silver hair and icy blue eyes and on his forehead was a black turned down crescent moon. In that man's eyes he saw the reflection of longing. He saw the man dressed in a white suit with a long cape sitting on a throne. Suddenly the silver haired man turn his attention on him, his expression saying something Xander could not interpret.

The silver haired man disappeared.

His mind returned to the original canvas of black with white dotted spots. Then again the spots began to form and took on the shape of a second man. This man had black hair and grayish eyes. His hair was tied at the base of his neck and a fell down little past his waist. In his eyes was the reflection of love. He was standing in a midst of ruin and around him feathers fell like rainfall. He lifted his face up to the heavens and began to sing. Xander heard no sound, but he knew the man was singing. Then suddenly the man blurred and in his place stood a woman. The woman was the exact copy of the man, the only difference was that she had breasts and was dressed in a short black shorts, had long black booths which came up to her thighs and in her midriff criss crossed two ribbons which came together at a golden star pendent on top of her bellybutton. Her breasts were covered in a black braw designed shirt that connected to a sailor like shoulder pads or ruffle. At the center of the braw shirt that held her breast was a gold star pendant like that one at her abdomen but this time, two small wings stretched out from both sides of the star pendant. At her neck was a bluish white collar with two metals of gold shocker. His ears were adorned in a golden colored star earrings and a hoop or ring of a golden headband rested on his forehead with a star pendant as the rings holder right smack at the forehead. Two copies of the collar at her neck rested on her upper arms.

The two people flickered in and out, in and out with both of them singing until they disappeared together and the canvas returned once more.

The next formation was not of one man but of two standing side by side. The two men looked very much alike; the only difference between them was that the one standing at the left had more vibrant color blue eyes than the other. The small space which separated them grew bigger and a third man appeared. He too looked a lot like the two men but it was obvious to tell the difference of time. The first two men were dressed in armors and gave off the feeling of old, ancient society. The man on the left was in black and purple armor while the one at the right was in white and blue amor. The third man was dressed in modern day attire but he seemed lost. The funny thing is all bared resemblance to the second vision man he had seen with the woman. They all had black hair though it was short.

The third man spoke.

"Go away." He said.

"Leave! Go away. Leave us in peace! Have you not done enough!?" this was spoken by the man on the right in the white and blue armor.

"You don't belong here! We do not need you! Go away!" the two men chanted until they disappeared. The third man turned to Xander and gave him a sad smile. Looking closely at the man, Xander could have sworn there was some sort of fire going around him. But the man had a very weak life force.

"The bird will soon fly. The flame will burn out. The sky will collapse and her light will go out. Time is of the essence Alexander, you must solve the riddle and clear the path for the light to shine or they will sacrifice her for their happiness. But be careful, there are those who seek to kill you. There are those who would murder and lie to tame the light. Look to your friends, look to your sisters. They are the key to unraveling all the mysteries. Find the key and set us free or she will soon die when her wings are crushed around her. Find me Alexander! Time is not on our side…find me! Before they do!" The third man said, his voice changing from prophetic to a command as he faded out and his mind changed to a total black canvas.

Outside his mind his body continued to writher on the floor, white foam escaped from the side of his mouth and his pupils disappeared all together as he struggled with his last ounce of breath and strength to fight whatever was killing him.

A sudden tall flame erupted from the ground like a volcano and in it a shadow of a being emerged. The flame died and standing in its place was a woman with floor length flaming hair, literally spoken. Her eyes glowed with an internal fire. She was dressed in a sailor suit that was of all shades of flame. She knelt by Xander and touched his face. Before she could do anything else, a circle of magic appeared on the ground before that circle turned black and from the ground roused someone. Once she was fully out of the ground, the new comer looked down at the scene and she too rushed to Xander's side. She unlike the other girl was dressed in all shades of black and grey in a sailor suit as well. Her hair fell to the floor in a pool of black ink.

"Fiery, he is far too gone into death for us to save him from the realm of the living. I shall enter into the spirit world and guide him back to the living but you need to cut the spell that is killing him." The black clad girl said.

"Understood." With all words spoken, the black clad women melted into the ground again in a pool of ink and Fiery as was the flame girl's name, placed both of her hands on the dying Xander.

She began to chant.

The chant was in a strange language long forgotten by the human race. Her concentration was perfect. Her eyes flipped shut and her inner eyes within her eyes opened. With the naked eyes one would think that Xander was dying from a stroke or a heart attack but through the inner eyes of the fiery girl, she saw the ropes and chains of curses, the spell of death and torture which was killing him. She knew it would be foolish if not suicidal to touch the chains and ropes with her bare hand so she conjured up the flame which was hers to command before attempting to grasp the chains. There was a brief force of resistance but she had death with these forces of resistance before to know that she could fight against them.

"Flames of the god of fire. By your name I command thee, I ask you grant me thy strength least my friend shall fall to the evil which means him harm." She spoke and her powers grew. When she was sure she had enough magic in her control, she uttered three deadly words in the ancient language of the Gods.

"Lavei Trea Matsul" The chains caught on fire and she held on to it, trying to rip it apart. The force the resisted her fought back. In other for the Black clad scout to bring back Xander into the world of the living, she had to open the gates of the living which was being blocked by the chains of death.

She let go of the chain and brought her two hands together in a praying gesture and folded her fingers down except her thumbs and the fingers next to both thumbs. With closed eyes she began her chanting again, this time conjuring a reverse spell of the death spell on Xander to send it back to whoever was behind it. Once the reverse spell was completed, she grasped the chain again and with a flick of force, she tore it apart. She quickly moved down other chains, tearing and sending the reverse spell with each chain she broke. Gently she placed on his neck and whispered a word. The rope chocking him broke. Fire descended from her hands onto his body, burning the remaining chains.

"Kaili Tiamle pracea." She muttered and her red flame turned into a golden flame and outlined his body. That was spell of protection and repellant. Whoever had tried to kill him could never again cast that exact same spell on him again, unless that person could somehow break the protective spell him she had cast on him which she was doubtful that anyone out there could break her spell.

Exhausted, she reduced her powers into standard mode and waited for the other girl to do her thing.

For the black clad girl, death was her first and foremost home. The spirit world being her second home and the living world her third. She knew if Xander's life force had already passed the spirit world, there was nothing she could do. The dead could not be brought back as he or she was, they would have to be totally reborn in a different time and place. In her mind she sought the door that led to the spirit world and it was hard to do as all the doors that led to other dimension looked the same as that which lead into the spirit world. But she was the daughter of death itself, there was no way she could not locate her home. But it was not death she sought but the spirit world which had a playful nature of deceiving people. She raised her hand and a staff, more accurately; a two sided blade soul reaper glaive appeared in her hand.

She twirled it around in her hand then tossed it.

"Find me that which I seek!" she commanded. The glaive twirled faster and came to a sudden stop. One end of the glaive came off and turned into blackish blue ball of light. The other end of the glaive straightened up and pointed. The ball of light came to rest at the tip of the pointed glaive. As soon as she touched the other end of the glaive where the blade had broken off, the glaive began to descend in a speed that would make anyone dizzy. Anyone but her of course. She entered into the spirit world just as soon as the gate from that side of the door dimension closed and landed in a very big room was occupied by spirits of every kind. Some were just random spirits, but most were syviers, a term from an ancient language defined as spirit works. They were the record keepers and organizers for the spirit world.

"Is that you Silence?" She turned around to a familiar voice.

"Vadger." She said his name and he grinned. He rushed to her and pulled her in a tight embrace.

"Oh my dearest Silence, It's been ages since I last saw you!" Vadger exclaimed excitedly and let her go.

"We can plan to chat up another time but right now I am searching for the life force of Xander." She said seriously.

"He's here"

"I felt him enter."

"Well then to the new arrivals room." Side by side they run through stores of staircase, going through buildings after buildings before they finally arrived at the door they sought. Silence was glad she had run into Vadger when she did. If not she would have had to go through the head master, state her reasons and be questioned for hours before she could get the keep to the new arrivals room and she knew she didn't have time. But since Vadger was one of the key holders to that particular room, she had no need to make her presence in the spirit world known.

"Ready?" Vagder asked. New spirit comers had a habit of flocking out and causing all hell of mischief when the door was opened. So spirit guards always had to be present.

She held out her hand again and the glaive reappeared in her hand.

"Here we go." Vadger opened the door and was as expected, all the spirits run toward them.

"Silence Inner shield!" she commanded and a wall of transparent shield formed at the door, repelling any and all spirit which got close enough.

"Back up now!" Vadger ordered. Some listened, others it took getting repelled back within to get the message. Silence left the door and into the room, her eyes roaming everywhere for the familiar face she had come to love as a brother.

She found him at the right far corner of the room sitting with a raised knee and his head on it as if he was sleeping. She approached him gently.

"Xander." She whispered his name and his head came up. He blinked at her.

"Who are you?" he asked in confusion.

"One who is here to help you. Are you ready to return to the land of the living?" she asked.

"I'm I dead?" he asked.

"But you will be if you are left here too long."

"How did I get here anyway and where is here."

"All will be explained in time. Right now though, we have to go."

"Oh, ok." She stretched her hand to him and he took it. He stood up by her side and she led him out the room, the door closing behind Vadger as he walked out to join them.

"What's going on Silence?" Vadger asked.

"It seems they just made the first move." She answered.

"But why him?"

"Because he is the biggest threat in their plan." She answered with narrowed eyes.

"Why is that?" Vadger asked, not understanding.

"Because of who he is and what he is capable of doing." There was silence.

"I'll take your word for it but you're going to have to explain it better to me later." He said.

"Yeah sure. Can you lead us to the nearest transport?" she asked.

"This way."

They arrived at a portal which will lead them through time, a much faster way of getting back to the living world.

"Here you go."

"Thank you Vadger." Silence said.

"Anytime. Come see me again sometime ok?" he said, looking at her sadly.

"Maybe it's time you left the spirit world and come back to the living."

"My place is here Silence."

"And mine is in the living world by my princess's side." He sighed.

"Safe journey." He said and she nodded. Xander said nothing through the whole exchange though he was burning with curiosity to know what the heck was going on. Holding on tightly to his hand, she walked through the portal and he followed. The portal closed behind her.

"Won't even look back." Vadger whispered before returning to his duties. Since that time long ago, like Fiery, Silence had kept every at a distance. Even him.

And he had been her fiancé.

* * *

They appeared at the gates of time and found another soldier in the colors of brown and maroon waiting for them.

"Time." Silence said, surprised to see the time keeper there.

"Fiery said you might be here." She replied as she hurried to Xander's side and held his face, looking from side to side to make sure he was alright.

"I thought I may have to deal with Pluto."

"She isn't even aware that I'm at the time gates."

"I can't believe someone like her, people like them were chosen over us."

"It's alright Silence. We have the chance to change everything now."

"Of you say so." Silence replied.

"I do." She said and raised her hand. A maroon colored ball of light left the palm of her hand and formed into a key several inches long.

"Shall we go?" Time asked. They walked to the door and Time opened the gate with the key. All three walked out and she locked it back behind her and the key disappeared.

"To our time we seek travel mercies." Time said and lights of all colors flooded around them. The closed they eyes for a brief moment. When they opened their eyes again, they were standing by Fiery who was still bent over Xander's still body. Time could hold him no longer except Silence since he was now just a mere spirit.

"Go into your body." Time said softly and he nodded. He slowly approached his body, fascinated by everything he had seen so far. He didn't know who the women were but he felt safe with them.

"Thank you for bringing me back." He said to silence and she smiled. He touched his physical shoulder and he dissolved into himself.

The three women waited patiently for nearly five minutes and sighed with relief when he opened his eyes.

He sat up and stared at them.

"Who are you?" He asked. Fiery stood and the fire blazed around her for a second and her uniform dissolved. Everything that made her more than human vanished and Xander gasped.

"Is this a good idea Raven? To reveal ourselves to him now?" Time asked.

"It's now or never. The battle has already begun." Raven answered. The two other women looked at themselves and they detransformed as well.

"Cassie? Hera and Raven?!" He asked in astonishment.

Cassie knelt before him and gave him a small sad smile.

"I'm sorry for all the secrecy until now. We hoped by keeping our identity secret from you, we would be able to protect you. But I guess that idea is out of the question now."

"Protect me from what?" he asked.

"Let's go home first. We will talk about it there. Serena needs to know as well. Cassie can you go pick her up?" Raven asked.

"Why are we rushing things?" Hera asked.

"Because there is no longer time to wait. If we don't explain things to her now, those blasted scouts will but they won't tell her the truth." Raven said.

"But the scouts don't even remember. The only one who remembers is Pluto." Cassie said reasonably.

"The inners were not involved in the plot either. It was the outers and the late rulers." Hera also said.

"If you are going to start questioning me now do as you like then." Raven said and began to walk away in anger. She hated it when people questioned her. She wasn't burdened with foresight for nothing.

"I'll go get Serena. Let's meet at the house in about an hour." They heard in their minds.

"Maxine…" Cassie warned.

"We've never had a reason to doubt Raven. Why start now. Don't destroy this harmony with your doubts and questions, how are we to fight as one if we question every move each other makes?" Maxine said.

"I'm not questioning her; I'd just hate it when she keeps us in the dark."

"The late rulers along with Pluto and the outers are brainwashing the inners. The past they see is not the real past. As for Serena, she had long been brainwashed. The others were too but most focus was on Serena. If they get time to sit and talk, we will have no chance of explaining anything to Serena."

"How do you know all this?" Hera asked.

"Raven saw a vision." Maxine answered.

"We will meet you back in the house in an hour." There was no more talk. No one ever questioned Raven's vision. It was as real and true as an event that had already happened in the past than something that will happen in the future.

* * *

Sorry for the late reply. it took me over a week to write this little chapter. I swear i hate writing boring chapters.

Things are going to pick up now from here on out so put your seat belt on and enjoy the ride.

**Read and Review!**


	7. Chapter 7 Lies And Trurths

**The Heart Hidden In The Darkness Of The Moon. **This is my newest fanfic. Please read and review it for me k! Pleaseeeee

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

**Chapter 7: Lies and Truths**

"No!" it was his turn to gasp so desperately. The flame around him exploded in angry hiss. The flame danced around them and in one big flare it disappeared, along with Serena and the flame man.

**********

A second later Serena found herself rolling down the floor of the temple. She yelped in pain at the contact to the ground and lay still breathing for a minute.

"What the hell?!" Rei screamed as all eyes in the room turned on the hurting Serena on the floor. She moaned and raised herself on all fours before shaking her head. It made her dizzy so she lay down again for a minute before sitting up and holding her head in her hand. There was a bump on the side of her forehead which she moaned at when her hand accidently touched it.

"Serena? What are you doing here?" Mina asked. She moaned again.

"You tell me and how the hell did I get here?" she said.

"Oh sure. Now you want to show up. Now you want to hang with us." Rei sneered and Serena snorted.

"Don't count your luck" She replied.

"Enough. Serena, please take a seat." Trista said.

"I'm going home. My head hurts."

"Will you listen before acting all high and mighty!?" Michelle snapped and all eyes turned on her. Michelle never raised her voice, no matter the circumstances. For her to raise her voice now was a shock to all of them.

"Look, I'm not interested in whatever you have to say. And I've got a headache so leave me the hell alone!" Serena snapped back and got up to leave. She moaned and paused as dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. She took several steps to the door and bumped into something hard yet warm. She flew back and landed on her behind.

"Always the klutz aren't you meatball head?" His voice invaded her thoughts but something in it sounded off. She looked up to him in confusion. He raised his brow at her and bent down. He offered her his hand.

She rolled her eyes and stood on her own.

"Look…you have 5 minutes to say what you want to say." She said and turned back to the others. She walked back to sit but made sure she was closes to the fire. Something about the fire offered protection, or it could just have been her time with that fiery guy that has her suddenly attracted to fire.

"Ok, spill."

"Do you know the person you were with just now before you got here?" Trista asked and Serena's eyes narrowed.

"How awesome, I'm being spied on! How creepy is that."

"We're not spying on you for no reason Serena. You're in terrible danger." Amara stated.

"Enlighten me please." Serena said.

"Wait, what do you mean she is in danger?" Amy asked.

The three older outer scouts sighed.

"Serena, run when that guy you were with just now come to you."

"And if I don't?"

"You will die. Queen Serenity was the one watching you, she was the one who teleported you here. He isn't safe to be around!" Trista said urgently. Serena didn't reply. Queen Serenity had teleported her away from him? Was he really that dangerous? Did he really want her harmed that her mother's spirit had to intervene?

"Why will he kill me? I don't even know who he is." Serena asked, real worry and fear starting to echo in her voice.

"That is why I tried to tell you the other day." Trista said. "Those girls you hang around with works for him. He's using them to get to you but you never listen!"

"I don't understand."

"Let me do the explanation Trista." Michelle said. "Those girls are sailor scouts too."

"WHAT?!?" All the inners along with Serena asked in unison.

"They are what?!" Rei asked again.

"Stop making things up!" Serena said in anger.

"They are." Hotaru said softly.

"Oh really, so are they in the future too Rini?" Serena asked.

"No."

"See…they can't be scouts." Serena said.

"They are not in the future because in this time we destroy them." Trista said and the blood drained from Serena's face.

"Serena hear me out. I don't know anything about those girls but I know a scout when I see one. No amount of disguise can hide the aura of a scout from me. My powers have grown Serena; even now I can still feel their powers. They are very strong, stronger than Galaxia." Hotaru said.

"Fine…so they are. Why would they want to harm me? They've been nothing but kind to me. When you guys ignored me, it is them who cared at all! They are not bad. You're lying!"

"We are not lying now listen!" Trista snapped, her eyes glowing.

"Do you know the hell they raised on the kingdoms in the silver millennium? Because of them one planet was destroyed! The entire planet exploded! Because of them thousands died! And they are back here to do to the earth what they did to Leiveira!" by the end of her sentence Trista was breathing so hard.

"Serena, I know this is much to take in but please listen. Whatever happens afterwards at least we've warned you. Years ago before you were even born, the queens and kings of the silver millennium gave birth to certain children. They were odd children, strange and extremely dangerous. They were marked with the aura of darkness and their fates were sealed when they were to turn 16. They would die that is. They were always bitter about this but as first born they were the ones destined to rule. But since they could not rule because they would die when each of them turned 16, the second children of the kings and queens were chosen as the heirs. They were upset about this and threatened to bring everything to an end. But even though they were born with the auras of darkness, they had no idea how to access those dark powers and together they left the planets and returned roughly around the time you were born. They demanded we hand you over to them in exchange they would not destroy the silver millennium. There was no way we were going to hand you over to them. We didn't think they were serious or even possessed the powers for it. And we were damn confident in our own defense. Our refusal to hand you over to them angered their master who wanted you to be his bride when you grew because then through you he would have access to the silver crystal. To show us that they meant business, they destroyed Leiveira." Michelle stopped as thick tears rolled down her cheeks. Amara drew her closer to her.

"We were unprepared for the amount of power that was demonstrated. We had been so confident but all that confidence came crumbling down. Finally they set their eyes directly on the moon. We were not going to hand you over or have them destroy the moon kingdom. So all the Queens and Kings came together and combined their powers along with us and the silver crystal. With every ounce of strength and powers we had, we managed to trap them in Limbo. Not just in Limbo but in a realm that was as close to death as possible. They had never been seen again, until now. Their master contacted the queen and you know what he said?" Trista asked looking directly at Serena. "That which should have been mine will be mine but as punishment of my imprisonment, I will hurt you in the only way I can. The death of your daughter. I need her not alive or dead, I just need her body."

There was a huge silence in the room. The fire crackled and Serena shifted away. She wanted to cry. Was there no one out there who cared for her simply because she was Serena? Xander's image passed over her eyes.

"What about Alexander, how is he involved in this?" She asked. Hoping and praying that he was not her enemy.

"He kidnapped you. After those scouts and their master were trapped in Limbo, their master had someone here still working on his behalf. Alexander was the librarian then at the time. He kidnapped you and plot to send you to limbo so we might have no choice but to lift the cage around his master and those scouts. I managed to wound him that when he teleported he ended up on earth. There the young prince Endymion who knew what was going on in the silver millennium found you and Alexander. When the alarm sounded of that you were missing, he stole you back from Alexander and immediately hid you until he contacted the queen. When we arrived on earth, Alexander was nowhere to be found. No one has seen him until now too." Amara said.

"I see." Serena said and turned to Darien to confirm his part in the story. He nodded.

"Why do you think I didn't report you to my family or kill you when you reappeared on earth at age 16? Remember the people of the earth and the moon did not get along, and as their princess killing you would have pleased my people. But I didn't. Because I already knew you."

"Wow, I never knew. Why weren't we told about this?" Mina asked.

"We were told. No, we were involved. I remember that fight. We were like 6 or 7 years old when it happened. It was right after that we were introduced to Princess Serenity as her guardians." Amy said.

"I remember too." Rei said.

"I don't. But then again, my memory doesn't go that far back." Lita said.

"Serena, we don't mean you to get so uptight about…" Before Michelle could finish, Serena rouse up and walked outside the room. In the hallway she started to run. Tears trailed down her face as her heart hurt in pain. She felt so alone.

Why?

She had tried to be a good person. She had loved and cared for people. She had risk her neck for the safety of the earth. The only think she had ever wanted was for someone to love her. Was that too much to ask for?

People on the street watched her pass but she paid no attention to any of them. She arrived at the park where she first met Xander and threw herself on the ground. She cried her heart out. It was as if someone was physically and forcefully trying to rip her heart out of her body. Her chest hurt with the heaviness of her emotions. She smashed her fisted hand on the floor as if physically trying to get rid of her pain.

"Why!" She screamed in a broken sob. "Why why why!? Why me!? Oh God why me?"

She raised her lower body up as her hands folded under her head. Her body shook with the force of her sorrowful tears. For a long while she stayed in that position then she sat up, leaned her body against the leg of the bench and brought her knees up to her chest. She didn't know what to feel, there was a great big knot in the center of her heart, a knot she had no idea how to unwind.

She lifted her head off her knee and looked straight ahead seeing nothing. All she could feel was the pain. The unrelenting pain of betrayal, loneliness, abandonment and the reality that her life would always never be her own. The sisters had given her hope for a better future but it was all a lie. They were no better than the scouts who wanted to use her for their own means and gains. But at least the scouts had been honest about their intentions with her. Not the sisters, they had made her believed in their love for her. They had made her believed in something that never was. And she had been such a fool, throwing herself on them just because they had shown her love. She had never wondered their intentions. Who was she that these famous models and actress would take such interest?

And Xander. To think he was also only just using her too.

"Guess we're a little too late huh." Maxine said as she appeared at Serena's side. Serena didn't reply. Maxine came by the bench and dropped down on it with a sigh.

"No matter what we do, we are always late." She said and again Serena did not reply. For a minute they sat in silence then Maxine stood up.

"If you want to hear us out come by the house. If not you will find us all gone by tomorrow morning." She said, got up and walked away. A little distance away a single tear rolled down her left cheek.

For a long time Serena sat still, not thinking about anything. An hour later her mind became active again. All she could see was the time she had spent with the sisters. The laughter. Even if they had lied to her, the laughter she had enjoyed had been very real. Even if they had lied to her they had helped her on her confidence in regards to her looks and they were trying to make her feel more confident about herself. When she had told them of her flaws they had not laughed at her and instead proceeded to help turn those flaws to charms.

_But they had lied!_ Her mind argued. _They were using you! Just like the scouts, they don't care about you. They just want to use you for their own means and gains. _

_**The kiss with Xander had been real.**_

_Real for who? You or him?_

Her heart and mind were at odds.

_**They have the right to speak their side of the story!**_

_And they are going to lie to you as they've been doing from the beginning!_

_**What makes you think Trista and the others aren't lying?!**_

_They may be heartless but they've never lied to you._

_**They've kept many things a secret until it suits them. And why am I fighting with myself?!**_

"Confused?" Serena's head shifted to the right where she found a familiar face sitting there.

"Nehelania!" The lady whose name Serena had just called out just stared straight ahead.

"Every truth begins with a lie and every lie begins with a truth. So then where does it all begin?" Nehelania said and turned her eyes to look directly into Serena's eyes.

"Don't ask me, obviously I'm very dumb." Serena said and looked away.

"You are if you make yourself out to be. What you are is not my concern. You are obviously blinded by what people tell you instead of going out to find the truth for yourself."

"You don't know anything!"

"Don't I? I lived years before you were born. Did you know that your mother is actually my sister?" Nehelania asked.

"What?" Serena eyes widened.

"She is my younger sister to be prices. I couldn't stand her. I still can't."

"Cause she was good and you were bad."

"How easily the surface fools the ignorant. By the end of all these lies and mysteries, you will see the world for what it really is. And you will understand what you cannot now. I wasn't always evil Serenity. I choose to become evil in other to be good and honest."

"I don't understand."

"Go."

"Go where?" Serena asked.

"Go see your new friends. Hear them out. If you fear they will harm you, don't. I will be with you invisible. Be sure that you are safe."

"Why will you protect me?"

"You gave me life. It's time I returned the favor. Don't run away from the truth or else you will be buried in the lies of the past."

"Will you help me?" Serena asked softly and Nehelania looked down at her.

"Why else will I have come to you now? Keep my presence a secret from both the sisters and the scouts. I will help you unravel the mystery but you alone must determine which is the truth and which is a lie." Nehelania offered her hand to Serena who took it and used it to stand up.

"Fear not my dear, you are not alone." Nehelania brought Serena into an embrace and a tear slid down Serena's face. She clung to the woman who might just be her aunt, trying very hard to believe that she really wasn't alone.

"Go Serenity and discover for yourself who you were, who you are and who you want to be least someone will make you what they want you to be. Go." Nehelania withdrew and pushed Serena ahead. Serena turned and looked back, and found no one.

She sighed.

"Here we go!"

* * *

She arrived at the huge mansion but before she could knock, the door opened to reveal Xander's worried face.

"Serena!" He said, his worried face turning into a smile. He stepped out with stretched hands to hug her but she stepped back. He looked hurt.

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. Serena looked straight in his eyes trying to determine his game but she could not see anything beyond genuine worry.

"Xander, step aside and let her walk in." Cassie said from behind. Xander turned back to look at Cassie in confusion. He stepped out of the way. Serena looked behind her as if to assure herself that she was not alone and that Nehelania was really with her but she saw no one. She sighed and walked inside. Xander closed the door gently behind him and followed Serena and Cassie to the living room where all the girls were sitting. They all looked up at her which made Serena feel very uncomfortable.

"Have a seat." Maeve said as she pointed to a single couch seat closer to the door.

"What would you like to drink?" Cassie asked. Serena shook her head.

"Well if you get thirsty just let us know k?" Cassie said and Serena nodded slowly. Cassie backed up and sat by Hera. Xander came to sit on the armrest of the couch Serena was sitting on and she tensed.

"Xander please. For now please give her some space." Alethea said. Xander looked down at the tense Serena and sighed. He was confused at what was happening. Not only had he almost died but finding out your sisters were more than human was pushing it. And still they had yet to give him an explanation. And now the girl he liked was tense around him, the day was just going splendidly.

He got up and walked to the furthest chair away from Serena and from the girls. There was a minute of silence and Raven stood up. She walked to the window and with her back to them she began to speak.

"Have you heard of the Elemental Sailor Soldiers?" She asked Serena. She shook her head no but realizing Raven can't see it she spoke.

"No."

"Why don't you tell us what the earth scouts told you." She said as she turned to face Serena.

"No."

"No?" Raven said dangerously.

"No."

"Very well. It seems you've already formed your own ideas and have chosen who to believe. You can go back home now." Raven said turning to face the window again.

"Rav!" Lava said indignantly.

"Very well then. Goodnight." Serena said, her own temper rising to the surface.

"Serena please wait!" She turned to Hera who had spoken. "Please forgive her. She just have a short temper. You don't have to tell us anything but please listen to us with an open mind. Don't judge us please." Hera begged. Serena turned fully to her. She stared at Hera for a second or two then walked back to her seat.

"Serena…" Maxine began. "First and foremost we owe you an apology for our secrecy. But please believe that we mean you no harm."

Serena said nothing.

"Secondly I will like to take this time to formally introduce us. My name is Maxinellian, Maxine for short. Princess and heir to the throne of Venus and the elemental soldier of Venus as well. I am the leader of the inner elemental soldiers."

Serena blinked but said nothing.

"Princess Ravenett is the heir to the throne of mars and the elemental soldier of it as well. Sailor Elemental Fire, or fiery." Maxine introduced Raven and looked to Cassie.

"I am Princess Cassanendra of Pluto. Though the name had been cut to Cassandra but it originality is Cassanendra. I am the backbone of both the inner and the outer elemental soldiers. I am the heir to the throne of Pluto and the elemental soldier of Pluto. My warrior name is Time."

"I am Princess Aleccxa, not Alexandra as is my civilian name now. I am the leader of the outer elemental soldiers and heir to the throne of Uranus. My warrior name is Wind or Windy." Alexa introduced herself after Cassie.

"I am Princess Maevelyn of Neptune. Heir and Elemental soldier of the water planet. My warrior name is water or watery." Maeve introduced.

"I am princess Hera of Saturn. Heir and Sailor Elemental Silence." Hera introduced herself.

"I am Princess Laverna, heir to the throne of Jupiter. Fury is my warrior name."

"And I am Princess Alethea, heir to the throne of Mercury. My warrior name is Icy."

"I am Princess Rhea."

"And I am Princess Rae." The twins said. "We are both princess of earth."

"What?!" Serena asked, her eyes wide.

"We are princess of earth, I am sailor earth." Rhea said.

"And I am sailor elemental earth."

"Earth huh? What? You mean to tell me you are Endymion's sisters?!"

"No, we're his cousins."

"I don't get it."

"One thing at a time. Endymion is not the prince of Earth but of Elysian. Elysian was a kingdom within the earth but not part of earth. Queen Gaea ruled Elysian and Queen Gaia ruled the earth. They were twins."

Serena looked at them dumbfounded.

"Ok, let's start at the very beginning is that agreed?" Maeve asked and Serena nodded.

"Very well. Prophecy spoke of two groups of soldiers for the planets that were part of the silver alliance. The normal scouts and the elemental scouts. Normal meaning they use powers. Elemental we use magic. The prophecy said 'unless these two unify in all, that which is of darkness will bring an end to it all.' And another verse in the prophecy said 'that which is of darkness must not be made to rule and that which is of shadow will seize to be on the dawn of 1 and 6 moon spins.' When we were born, the seed of darkness were planted in us. In all beings, there is always a seed of darkness. Ours were just in plain sight and it scared the queens and kings. As we grew, our magic grew with us. At age one I could flood an entire continent. Raven could burn an entire city, we were just too powerful. So they feared us." Maeve said, her eyes distance.

"The last to be born was of course, Hera. Soon after that Raven had a vision, in it spoke of 8 children that would be born of the light by all the planets. If only we had known what the consequences would have been, then we would never have told the rulers. 'and that which is of shadow will seize to be on the dawn of 1 and 6 moon spins.' They figured that was us and we would die at 16. So our place as heirs to the throne were taken from us. I supposed that's reasonable but we made an agreement." Maxine said.

"And what was that?"

"That when the daughter of Queen Serenity was born, we would be given the chance to be her guardians until death comes upon us. The agreement was sealed and we stepped down from the throne with no resistance. In other to prepare for the day of your birth, we left home and went out to train. We came back on the day you were born to fulfill the agreement but by then the scouts were born and they queens and kings decided because they would rule the kingdom, it was better for them to be your guardians." Maxine said, her voice cold. Serena had never heard her voice like that and looking at all their faces, they seemed both miserable and angry.

"Before we went back, I had had a vision. In it I saw the same dark seed that had been born with us surround you. I knew if we weren't part of your life, you would die before it was your time. Back then none of us understood what having a dark seed born with you meant. Now we do." Raven said quietly.

"What does it mean?" Serena asked.

"Pain."

"Pain?"

"It means you will suffer great deals of pain in your life." Raven answered. "I explained to the queen that you needed us but she would not hear of it. It took nearly two years after your birth for us to discover why." Raven looked directly at Serena, her eyes serious.

"You are not queen Serenity's true daughter."

There was a heavy silence in which Serena tried to absorb what was being said.

"I don't understand."

"You're real mother is Nehelania, the true heir to the throne of the silver moon kingdom." Serena's jaw dropped.

"You see, Nehelania and your mother are sisters. Nehelania is the oldest; she was supposed to have inherited the throne. But Serenity wasn't having it. She believed that she was destined for the throne. At the time she was so selfish and full of herself. In other to make it possible for her to rule, she sought help from the queen of earth. Together they plotted a scheme. At the time there was another kingdom called Leiveira where Nehelania often snuck off to go see her lover. The plot was simple, if they got Nehelania to destroy that planet, everyone would see she was incapable of ruling the moon kingdom. When Nehelania went there on her normal escapades to go see her lover, she witnessed his death. Queen serenity and Queen Gaia had used their magic to control Nehelania's lover and had him commit a grievous crime, abducting princess Thainia. The punishment was death and Nehelania appeared there just as he was beheaded. She went mad. The queens had known he was her soul mates and they had expected her to go mad with his death. Even if she had not destroyed the kingdom herself, they would have and made it looked like she did it. But she did, unconsciously though. In her anguish all her powers came out, she had to punish those responsible for his death. All she could see were the people gathered at the death sight. Her powers spread and every living thing on the planet was destroyed. For days she went on a rampage, there was no hope for her. To prevent her from harming anyone else, she was trapped in the shadow of the moon and queen serenity ascended the throne." Raven sighed.

Serena sat there, tears trailing down her cheeks. She was so confused, who was she to believe? The sisters were saying the destruction of Leiveira had been the fault of the woman she had come to believe as her mother but the scouts were saying the sitters had destroyed the planet. Who was lying and who was speaking the truth?

"In learning that, we also learned why Queen Gaia had agreed to help Serenity. They had promised that their children would be wedded. They had before known that their children would only be a few years apart with Queen Gaia's child being male and the oldest. It was perfect. At the time Queen Gaia gave birth, Queen Gaea also gave birth to a son. The only difference between the two children was their eyes. Gaia's son had lighter shade of blue eyes while Gaea's son had a darker shade.

Five years later, Queen Serenity's real daughter was born, and so were you. But her daughter died that same day and as you well know, monarchs of the moon can birth only one child. Because no one knew about Nehelania's baby, queen Serenity stole you. Using the silver crystal, she put you into a death sleep. Nehelania thought you were dead and she buried you. Her only child, afterwards she decided not to care for anyone but herself. And from the grave Queen Serenity dug you out and you became hers. She feared that if she allowed us too close to you, we would have seen through her deception and that was why she had requested that the second heirs to the other planets be your guardians.

We were furious when we learned all this. At the time we had made Leiveira our home since we were pretty much banned from the silver alliance. On Leiveira, the spirits of the princess Thainia came to us and begged us to destroy the planet." Alethea said. All the sisters save Rhea and Rae had taken turns telling parts of the story.

"But I thought you said it was already destroyed." Serena said.

"It was. There was no living creature. Everything was in ashes. But in order that the souls of those unjustly killed to move on and be reborn, the planet itself too had to be destroyed. Thainia couldn't stand having her people trapped to a dead stone. So we destroyed it.

With nowhere to go and nothing to do, we tried to blend in and watch over you from the shadows. Queen Gaea called us to her and we went to Elysian. She allowed us to live there, treated us like her own daughters. Endymion and his guardians and we grew really close. At the time Rea and Rhea often came to Elysian to visit. Queen Gaia showered all her attention on her son that she ignored her daughters so often they stayed at their aunt's palace. We often all watched you as you grew, your antics, shared with you your happiness and pain. Endymion loved you long before you actually met. Then when you were thirteen, an argument with queen serenity brought you to earth and he came to meet you.

You two spent the whole day together and by the end of it there was no doubt that you had fallen in love. Before you left for the moon, the two of you kissed and something happened. As you were kissing, flames liked your figures and rose to the sky. And in the flames two figures emerged. Two phoenix, one golden and the other silver. When you broke out of the kiss, you two were no longer just princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. Like the sailor scouts, when we transformed we had different names. That was you and his transformation. Crescentiu and Crescentia. But it was more than transformation for you two; it was who you two were. The phoenixes were your guardian beasts. Our guardian beasts were the beasts that guarded the planets, yours were created by the passion within the two of you and what says passion more than fire?" Raven who had been telling that part of the story stopped to breathe.

"When you two were together your individual powers were shown but separate your flames did not contain your unique colors. It looked just like any regular red and orange flame. It normally is a sign of weakness, the two of you were never supposed to be separated.

But before we could warn you, you told queen serenity about your meetings with Endymion and she banned you from seeing him again. Of course you didn't listen and she erased your memories of him. You never came to Elysian again and security grew tighter around you so Endymion and we couldn't sneak in to see you. For three years we could only watch you through the mirror in Elysian. Then the queen introduced you to Queen Gaia's son. As soon as you saw him, the name that came out of your mouth was Endymion. The queens realized that no matter how deep they sealed your memories, so long as her son looked so much like the Endymion, you would remember him. Hoping to prevent that, her son whose name was Darien suddenly became Prince Endymion." Maxine stopped, hand the rest of the story to Laverna.

"Cresentius was furious. He came to see the queen, demanded to see you and that the queen give you back to him. A deal was made for your memories to be awakened. There was a very powerful sorceress trapped in limbo, Endymion was to go there and free him. Of course we could not let Endymion go into limbo on his own so we all accompanied him, all of us except his guardians. But in limbo, the queen trapped us there. We made sure Endymion escaped but as for us, there was no hope. Only through Raven's visions could we see what was happening in the outside world. Queen Serenity thought Endymion was trapped in limbo so she didn't have much to worry about anymore. Queen Gaea was furious and was about to go head to head against queen serenity. Both queens had the strongest artifacts in the universe, the silver crystal and the golden crystal. But Endymion had a plot. It was to announce that Queen Gaea's son was dead. And his four guardians were now to become Queen Gaia's son's guardians. So the four kings or otherwise known as the Elysian knights went to guard Prince Darien.

There their memories were altered by queen Serenity so they believed that Prince Darien was the prince they had served their whole life. The scouts became their fiancés. All was well. Well so they thought. But it seems like always queen serenity was two steps ahead of us. For the longest time she had been weaving a web of magic around the kingdom of Elysian.

On your wedding day with Prince Darien, Endymion appeared in front of the whole court and was ready to spill the queen's secret. She had expected him and silenced him before he could speak. In a private room, Queen Serenity showed him the web she had been making around his kingdom. If he wanted his kingdom to be safe, he would keep his mouth shut.

He was chained in a magical prison where if he didn't break free soon, he would die. His powers would be drained completely from him. But if he broke free, there was no telling what queen serenity would have done.

Seeing the predicament her son was in. Queen Gaea fought back the web, but the only way she could win was to seal Elysian. For her son, she sealed the entire kingdom in a dimension on earth. With his kingdom no longer in danger, he could break free. Serenity wasn't having that so she trapped him somewhere. None of us know the location of where he was trapped. None of us has ever seen him since. With all her enemies gone, she thought she was free. She had not suspected an enemy to rise out of earth. But it did, lead by Beryl, Matallia and the four knights though the four knights had been under beryl's control so it's not like they meant to lead a siege on the moon. Finally everything she had fought for and lied for and killed for all came crumbling at her feet. She had forgotten the curse Nehelania had placed on you. Nehelania's curse was that you would not live long enough to sit on your throne. A year after your wedding, you were supposed to be crowned queen. Of course Nehelania had cursed you thinking you were Serenity's daughter. Not her own. And thus the moon kingdom came to an end." Alethea said as she exchanged telling the story with Laverna.

"But Pluto had seen this future way before the silver mellinium came to its destruction. So the queen had known that it would all revive again if she gave all of you a chance to be reborn. She had not expected the crystal to rebirth us along with Beryl.

Our memories of you and the moon kingdom only awakened three years ago when you first became sailor moon. We spent a year locating each other, by the time all the scouts were with you so we knew we couldn't just waltz in. In the end we decided to find Endymion but we've searched and searched. He can't be found. At this point we think he might be dead." Hera finished and all sighed.

There was no more talk for a very long time. All sat reliving their lives of the past, Serena on the other hand was very confused.

"It doesn't make any sense." Serena finally said.

"What doesn't?" Maeve asked.

"Everything. It absolutely makes no sense. Why would my mother, I mean Queen Serenity go through all this trouble?"

"It's like a lie sweetheart. When you tell one lie, you have to tell twenty more to cover up the one lie. Then that twenty more needs twenty more individually to cover it up. There is no end to it." Cassie said.

"Well what does Alexander has to do with all of this?" Serena asked.

"We don't know." Hera answered.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked, looking toward Xander who looked absolutely confused.

"I had a vision last year. In it he was lying in a bed of snow. Something about him told me that we are to go find him. So we did, lying in a bed of snow. But he had no memories, no information he could provide to us. Not even his name. We gave him the name Alexander."

"Oh." Serena said.

"I only know that he might be the key to finding out what happened to Endymion. That is all I know and I know this through a feeling. So it could just be that he is just an ordinary citizen." Raven finished.

Serena and Xander stared at each other.

No, Xander was no ordinary person that Serena was sure. No ordinary person could produce in her the electricity she had felt so strongly at their first encounter.

"Where is Flavius?" Serena suddenly asked. She realized it had been a while since she saw that intelligent bird.

"He often disappears and appears." Xander answered.

"I see."

"Serena?" Alethea said and Serena turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Do you believe us? Do you believe all we have told you?" the girl asked, looking straight in Serena's eyes trying to find the truth of Serena's thoughts.

"I….I…." Serena sighed and looked down at her hands intertwined together on her lap. "Truthfully, I don't know what to believe." She answered and Alethea nodded and closed her eyes with a sigh. She seemed sad and tired.

"We're not expecting you to believe us right away. But if you love Endymion, the real Endymion, I pray that your tampered memories will reveal the truth that is buried in your heart." Maxine said.

"What do you mean by tampered memories?" Serena asked.

"Is the memories you have anything at all like what we have just told you?"

"No."

"That's what we mean by tempered. You're not the only one. The inner's too have had their memories tampered with. It's not you're faults, but if you all don't find a way to snap out of the mind control, you will all always live under a dark cloud." Lava stated.

"One more question."

"What is it?" Maxine asked.

"Prince Darien. You said he pretended to be Prince Endymion. Why?" Serena asked. She didn't understand that. Why would he pretend to be someone he wasn't? Was it just to suit his mother?"

"Prince Darien was always jealous of Prince Endymion. He became furious when he learned that the one who had your heart was his rival. I suppose he thought for the moment he would pretend to be Endymion and have you fall in love with him. You should ask him that question." Rea answered.

"Mmmm." Was all she could say. Both stories told by the scouts and the sisters seemed plausible because in both of them she wasn't active in it. From the scouts view, she had been only a little girl so she couldn't remember. And the sisters' version is pretty much about them, the secret doings of the king and their relationship with Endymion when she had not been part of his life. And as they said, her memories were tampered in so her involvement in it had been replaced. Or the scouts could be telling the truth since she could not remember anything at all about the phoenix or the fire or even the name Crescentia…

Well there was the fiery man. Crescentius. He was real, he had been Endymion. If so, then Endymion was very much alive. But if he was bad as the scouts claimed, then where does Endymion fit in all of it? And how could Darien not be the man she had known and loved so much? Who was she to believe?

"Tell me something Serena…" Alex said.

"Yeah?"

"Who did the talking when the scouts were telling you what happened in the past."

"The outers?"

"Did the inners not say anything?"

"Mmmm…not really. Amy and Rei said they remembered but Mina and Lita said they couldn't remember."

"Right, we have met the inners only once and that was our return from the training. At the time you were born they were only two years old, Lita was the oldest at three. How could they remember anything?" Alex said.

"What are you saying?"

"The scout of Thunder was your closest friend. She trained harder than them all, learning not only her duties as a scout and a princess but manual labor such as cooking and women chores so she could better serve you in any circumstances. She knew you to your very bones. She was the first you told about Endymion too. Then there is the scout of love, Venus. She is the scout of heart, to tamper with her memories; you must do so with care. If there is even the slightest doubt in her heart or mind, the mind tampering will not work. Their memories would be the hardest to tamper."

"Mina is Venus and Lita is Jupiter, they are the two that don't remember what the outers told us." Serena said.

"Then think about that."

Serena had to give it to her, she had a point though she didn't exactly remember Lita being her closes friend. She always thought it was….it was who? She had never considered it but why did she always feel more at ease around Lita? Well…before, when they had not excluded her from everything they did.

She blinked. An idea she had not considered suddenly came up.

"Still, something doesn't make sense. If Prince Darien is not the real Prince Endymion wouldn't…" the rest of her sentence was lost the arrival of the scouts. The sisters were up on their feet in a flash, each glowing with the aura of their power.

They had hidden behind them as they formed a semicircle in front of her, their eyes glowing and some with their teethes bared.

The scouts too took on a defensive stance, each calling their powers to the tip of their fingers.

"Give us back Serena." Mars snarled.

"Hmph. Why don't you try taking her away?" Raven challenged.

"Oh we will."

Raven began to glow with a fiery red power.

"You know, the one I have never been able to stand among you all is you. You're loud mouth, the disrespectful way you talk to Serenity and your arrogance. Let me show you what real power is all about, not your childish toys."

"Bring it on." Mars answered to the challenge, also glowing.

"Wait, stop!" Serena ordered. "I said stop!"

Raven calmed down but Mars continued to power up.

"Did you not hear me Mars, I said stop!"

"Shut up!" Mars snapped. Raven's eyes glowed.

"I'll teach you the proper way of talking to your mistress." Raven snarled. A long snake shape fire snaked around her body. There was a pulse in her eyes and mars flew backwards and slammed to the wall.

Chaos ensured afterwards as powers and magic collide in a battle of resistance.

Who would come out victorious Serena could not tell.

She felt someone grab a hold of her hand, dragging and running. She looked up.

"Where are we going!?" she demanded when she noticed the one holding her hand was Xander.

"To find out the truth!" He answered her. From behind her, Serena's other hand was grabbed and pulled.

"Let her go!" A growl came from Darien's throat.

Both Xander and Serena spin around to stare at Darien.

"You let go." Xander answered calmly.

"She is not yours!" Darien answered.

"Neither is she yours."

"She is my girlfriend!"

"Really? How believable is that." Both argued and they pulled on her arm.

"You two let go! My hand hurts." She said but both could not hear her above the noise of the fighting going on behind them and their own battle of words.

"LET. ME GO!" she screamed and her crescent moon appeared in a blaze of light. Darien let go of her hand to shield his eyes but Xander drew Serena into his arms. Out of nowhere Flavius appeared. He flew in circle around Xander and Serena, all the while leaving behind a trail of flame. The eagle soured up wards only to come back down in a whirlwind of flame. The fire danced around the two and Xander's eyes glowed.

They disappeared.

"Serena no!" Darien screamed.

Raven's eyes went blank, and she disappeared. None noticed her departure.

Mars was out cold on the floor and still the battle went on.

* * *

Read and Review!

AND PLEASE READ AND REVIEW MY NEWEST FANFIC! **THE HEART HIDDEN IN THE DARKNESS OF THE MOON!**

I THINK YOU WILL REALLY LIKE THAT ONE


	8. Chapter 8 The Truth

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

Laverna Maxine Raven Alethea Hera Cassie, Alex, Maeve Rhea and Rae

Lita Mina Rei Amy Hotaru Trista Amara Michelle

**Chapter 8 - The Truth**

Serena felt like she was on fire. She screamed and cried but the fire continued burning. It was angry, not with her but because she was in its way, it was consuming her.

"Please stop!" she screamed but the agonizing pain of the burning in her intensified. She opened her eyes to see her hands caught on fire. She shook her hands violently, screaming and crying but the fire extended its reach up her arms. She looked down and saw her hands weren't the only ones caught on fire. Her foot burned with pain and the fire was devouring her clothes and reaching up to her throat. She screamed out of the very core of her throat.

She woke up screaming and shaking.

"Shhh, it's alright. It's fine. You're alright. Nothing is going to get you, you're alright." Xander whispered soothingly to the violently shaking girl. He held her tightly and she cried miserably against him for what seemed like an eternity. When she was spent from crying and her tears had run out, her muscles relaxed against him and she sighed.

"You ok now?" he asked. She lifted her head up to stare at him.

"What is your part in all of this?" she asked softly. She so badly wanted to believe the sisters that he might just be an ordinary citizen, to have no part of this mess or the past. Someone she could so easily love and be with having no fear he was using her for his own gains and means. She could no longer lie that she loved him, nor was the excuse that Darien was her 'soul mate' hold her feelings back. And now Darien is supposedly not who she thought he was, and Xander might supposedly be a librarian kidnapper in disguise.

Looking down at her, he sighed.

"I had hoped that if I could live my life erased of the memories of the past, I could be with you without fearing consequences or circumstances that is irrelevant to the feelings we both share. But nothing can be hidden forever." He said in reply to her question and her eyes opened WIDE. She watched him stand up and walk about a foot from her. His back was to her and he was staring at the silver full moon. Slowly, Serena stood to her feet and became conscious of her surrounding. They seemed to be standing on ground but she could swear she saw the edges of the ground she was standing on. It was as if they were on an island, but instead of being surrounded by water, they were surrounded by deep, dark shadows and blackness. The moon was the only source of light which pretty much only shined at where they stood. The little light that went on only showed little shadows of what might be in the blackness but even then she could see anything to determine where she was at. If they were on some sort of island, then it was a very small island. In fact it was so small it could only hold all of ten or fifteen people.

When she returned her gaze back to Xander whose back was to her, his hair was out of the gold band which held it together at the base of his head. His right hand was stretched out and Flavius out of nowhere was sitting on it.

"Xander?" she said weakly, her voice tiny and nervous.

"There were so many times I tried to reach you. But even when you knew what was best for YOU, you would always put that off to do what was best for others. I even physically influenced two people, brought them to you and tried to help you understand that your feelings to Darien were just that of duty. You don't love Darien. Serena may have but you are no longer just Serena. Serena did not go save the world every night; Serena did have to worry about the safety of the world. Serena never imagined herself as queen of the earth or even a super hero. Serena was just a sweet, innocent, naïve girl who only daydreamed about the cutest boy, fun, food and getting out of school. That innocent girl was the one who fell in love with Darien because her eyes were close and all she could see were the things in him that satisfied the human side of her in which she was only conscious off. He was hot, smart, college student and behind his taunting façade was a supposedly caring and loving man. And he was, until he remembered who he was and you became a game to him. Until you remembered who you are and started to question yourself. If only you had sought to find answers for all those questions you knew instead of trying to bury the questions as something that will cause problems, we wouldn't be in this predicament." Xander said before slowly turning around to face her. His gold eyes were gone and in its place were dark ocean blue eyes, eyes she had seen on Darien, only darker and in her dreams. She gasped and stepped back.

He smiled sadly at her.

"Or maybe I just didn't try hard enough." He said with a sigh.

"E…En…dymmmmion?" she said shakily. He took one step toward her and she stepped back. He stepped and took a step back to where he stood before.

"Diamond and Seiya, they were both my doing." He said and a loud gasp escaped Serena.

"What?" she asked, her eyes even bigger if possible and once again he sighed.

"In the supposed future known as Crystal Tokyo, I inhabited the body of an innocent man name Diamond. Went on the tenth planet and began war on Crystal Tokyo." He said and Serena's jaw dropped.

"Then when that failed, I awakened Galaxia, gave some of my power to Chaos within her so it would control her. Then sent the star lights to earth and I inhabited Seiya's body. With Seiya I had a bit of luck because you felt very close to him, drawn to him. It was your loyal heart, faithful heart in you that prevented you from indulging in the feelings you very well knew you felt for him. Now if you go and ask her why he had been so desperate about you, he wouldn't know why though he himself also fell in love with you through me." he said with another more tired sigh.

"Why!?" Serena screamed, tears trailing down her face. All the pain and hopelessness she felt during those battles, the death of scouts at Galaxia's hand, Rini becoming wicked lady, all of that had been but a cruel joke from him!

"Why? You're asking me why? Do you know the suffering I had to go through?! Everyday without you, everyday watching you in his arms, everyday you spared not a single thought for me! How the hell was I suppose to reach you!? Even through all this catastrophe I sent your way you still couldn't see past what you wanted to see! You wanted to live it safe, take what was given to you, make it what you want even if it wasn't! You are so afraid of stepping out and reaching for what you want because you think you will never get it! You've let others tell you who you and who you want to be to the point where the real you no longer exist, no longer matters! And I had to watch all this," he said, screaming but finished off in a silent cry. "I had to watch all this because you had made it impossible for me to reach your heart."

Every word spoken out of his mouth was a sharp knife of truth which hit Serena as if physically struck. The truth of his words made her gasp and feel sick to her stomach that she collapsed on her knees.

"Crystal Tokyo was solidifying every hour of the day. I knew if I didn't do something about it, that future could not be change. So I meant to destroy it. What I hadn't expected was for you to save it and trap yourself in it in the course of time. But at least I managed to make it a possible future, not the definite future. But you were still on the road that that future. I knew I had to do something big to change destiny and time itself, so awakened the past through Galaxia. I WANTED DARIEN OUT OF THE PICTURE! He was the key to making Crystal Tokyo happen. But that failed too, so I had to step in myself. So I split myself in two, a body and a brain. My memories that made me who I was, am and hope to be became one persona and my physical body became another. Before that I sent a vision to Raven on how to find me and how I will look to her. So I made shifted myself to the man you have come to know as Xander and my memories and everything to the bird you knew as Flavius. That was why it was always with me, because while my body was unconscious of what its purpose was, I needed a guide which was my memories, my thoughts, the inner me that knew everything. And so Raven found me, and Flavius led as to Japan where the final cards must be played." It all made sense now. Xander had not lied to her, he just hadn't known himself. It was like having amnesia, there was no knowledge of self. Flavius on the other hand had known everything but how do you get mad at a bird even if it really isn't a bird?

"Flavius is a bird. I just inhibited its body. He has always been my special friend, even in the silver millennium. If your memories ever return, you will remember that most often he was the means of communication between us." He said as if understanding her thoughts.

"Why all of this? Why me?" Serena asked pathetically.

"Out of love you protect everything. And out of love I destroy everything. Love is a double edge sword. It can make a person good or bad depending on the circumstance. Had I been allowed to love you as we were meant to be, all this I have done wouldn't have been necessary. I do not regret anything that I have done Crescentia…"

"Don't call me that!" Serena snapped.

"Why? Because it holds the freedom you so want but afraid to receive!? You go about moping that nobody loves you and nobody care, but isn't it all your fault!?" He snapped back at her.

"What do you mean?" he sighed at her question.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice, all this time of loneliness has generated a temper in me I cannot control. What I mean is that you allowed all that has happened between you and the scouts to have happened. Your wishy washy attitude, your going along with their ideas attitude. You are their princess! Before you can be their friend you have to be their princess! Why? Because due to their nature as scout, they will respond to you as the princess first and for most. Once you had their utter loyalty and love, you could be anyone and they would still love you. Because not only do you demonstrate leadership and grace and power, but you allow them to be as they are. But you didn't. You allowed them to talk to you as they pleased and the only time you allowed them to remember that you are the princess is when you are wearing the white dress of the moon. A mother cannot be to a child a friend first before a mother. She has to be a mother first because it is her who nurse the child while it is a baby, once a trusting open relationship has been establish when the baby is aging is when she can become the child's friend."

"You don't know anything!"

I don't know anything? Serena, I've been watching you since you were born at hope's hospital 1993 on June 30 on a Saturday afternoon! I was with you through your childhood days when you were one of the smartest students in your class. I was with you through middle school when you often got sick and thus missed so many school days that you lost your ability to keep up. I was with you when you met Darien, I was with you when you first became a scout, and I've been with you all through these three years. I've listened to you cries, your silent dreams, and your desires. I've visited your dreams in so many forms and I've sent so many strangers to befriend you over the years. Your friend Molly, it was I who sent her family from mainland Tokyo to Jubban so she can befriend you. And your friend Andrew, it was I who made him aware of you. Remember that fashion designer who you modeled for when you found him sitting on a swing downcast, it was I who sent him there to meet you. The list goes on and on. I've sent you so many people I had hoped you would allow close to you and find comfort in them but you seek to carry your burdens and others all on your shoulders alone. Those who can help you, you turn away, those close to you; you allow them to control you. And those who loves you, you push way. I've helped you so much Serena but I can't anymore. You have to help yourself from now on. You have to decide what is best for you because I have used all my resources and still you mellow in self pity and unreasonable low self esteem! Help yourself, I can no longer. Discover for yourself the truth you've been running away from and cast your lot. I will always be there for you when you need me but I will no longer appear to you until I have been convinced you are trying for yourself." He said and began to fade.

"Wait!" Serena screamed.

"No Serena. There is no more waiting." He vanished altogether.

"WAIT!" She screamed, tears rolling down her eyes. She broke down on the ground and cried over again.

* * *

Nurturer distanced herself from the battle to look around. The explosives of powers and magic, the chaos, the destruction of the house. Being a scout of care, seeing such anger in all of them was taking its toll on her. Opening arms in front of her, her hand shaped into a heart with a few inches of distance between them, she began to glow a pure golden light. Up from the floor she roused into the air and the magic gathered in her hands in the position it was in. Three consecutive pulses resonated through her hands and down and up her entire body, then the heart shaped golden magic descended on the floor. The size grew bigger and bigger as it drew closer to the floor and as soon as it touched it, it opened wide and the house pulsed with her power. This was repeated four more times, all the battle seized and all eyes turned on her. She was shining like a beacon of light, a truly magnificent sight to behold.

With the battle at a stop, she became even more aware of their surroundings. The beautifully decorated house was torn apart, the walls were scorched, Mars lay on the floor looking dead, the scouts looked beaten with their clothes torn and stand with the last straw of their energies. The sisters look fine with just a few scratches here and there but other than that they were in a much better shaped than the scouts.

"I…I think we have lost sight of who we are." She said. The sisters looked ashamed but the scouts looked confused.

"Our destinies as scouts are to protect, not destroy. We are here fighting like cats and dogs yet what is our reason for fighting? Is this what Serena wants? For us to kill each other cause if it is I would have no problem in doing that." She said and they all turned to the direction of where they had last seen Serena. She wasn't there.

"Serena?" Silence said, worry creeping into her voice.

"Oh no, did we barbeque her or something?" Lava asked, though her words seemed a joke, her face was filled with horror. From behind the couch, Tuxedo Mask stood up.

"That was what I was trying to tell you. That Alexander person took her away!" Tux said with indignation.

"Took her where?" Time asked.

"I don't know, you tell me. He up and disappeared with her!" He said with his hand fixed into a fist.

"Where is Fiery?" Sailor Earth asked. They all turned to look around, saw mars and turned back to Tuxedo Mask. He shrugged his shoulders. He had hidden after Serena and Xander disappeared when the powers and magic all the soldiers were using nearly blasted him.

"I think I might know where they are. Nurture, Silence and Windy, you come with me. The rest of you put this house back together!" Time said and raised her hand. A long scepter with the end shaped like a heart only made of tree branches and a bit twisted with roses around it appeared in her hands. At the center of the heart was a glowing rainbow orb. She rose up the scepter and pointed it on a wall in front of her. A door began to form. A brown door appeared and she walked toward it.

"Fury, be sure to prepare a meal for our princess." Nurture said and Lava who was in her elemental scout form nodded. Time touched the door knob and it opened. She stepped aside and allowed those she had picked to enter.

"Bring her home safely." Watery said. Time smiled a little in assurance before entering and the gate disappeared.

"You guys, follow me." Pluto said. After giving one more look of disgust at the elemental soldiers, the scouts followed Pluto out with Darien trailing after them.

The remaining elementals de-transformed and immediately began working to restore the room to some order.

* * *

As soon as Serena's crescent moon had shown, Raven had felt like a shield was lifted or like a curtain was opened. For the first time in ages, she felt Endymion's life force. Concentrating on that life force, she teleported, using her mind to trace where the force had come from. She appeared in a beautiful rose garden, a garden she had often spent quiet moments to herself. For a minute she thought she had traveled through time to get to the past. But then remembered she did not have the powers of time.

"He said you were sharp and that you might catch on to his location." Raven spun around at the voice behind her. Looking at him, her eyes opened wide.

"Helios?" she asked in wonderment.

"It's been a while heart of fire." Helios said as he approached her. She went on one knee and looked up at the high priest who had been her mentor in the past.

"Master." She said.

"I thought we've been through this, I am NOT your master!" Helios said with a little smile. In the past, she often called him master because there was rarely anything he didn't know. From him she had learned to control herself and magic splendidly.

"I thought I'd never see you again." She said, tears wavering in her eyes. Helios gently touched her cheeks with his hands and leaned his forehead against hers for a second.

"I'm never far little one. You just need to know how to look for me."

"Teach me and I will." Raven said.

"Always ready to learn. It was one of your character traits I enjoyed." He said and helped her stood up.

"Is Endymion here?" She asked, looking around as if she could see him.

"Yes and no. he is here in Elysian but not within the castle." Helios said.

"Then where may I find him? I wish to know, feel and see for myself that he is well." She said and Helios sighed.

"Endymion would not appreciate you coming to him right now."

"Forget that. I am going to go see him! Where is he?" she demanded. Helios looked away.

"Helly please. I'm suffering , my mind is constantly visioning things. Until I see him I cannot be at peace. Please, help me find my prince." She said. He looked at her, saw her desperation and sighed.

"It is a perilous journey." He said.

"Even into the pits of hell I will walk. Show me where I must go." She said, her face set and determined. He sighed, she would figure out where Endymion was soon enough anyway so what was the point of hiding it from her?

"Walk north from The Silent Grave. That is all. Until you have reached the tower." Helios said.

"Do you mean to go to the stairways of heaven?" Raven asked and Helios blinked.

"I had almost forgotten you used to live here." He said with a chuckle. "Yes, the stairway leads thousands upon thousands of miles up into the sky as you well already know. You will not be able to use your magic to elevate you. On foot you must climb the stairway into the sky Palace. There you will find him." He instructed.

"I see. Thank you." She said.

"Be safe my dear." He said. She leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"I will be. And I shall come back to see you." Helios nodded and watched her as she run out of the garden. He sighed.

"Make yourself known Small Lady." Helios said and Rini, well an older looking Rini walked in. The exact copy of wicked lady, except there was no madness in her eyes that said she was wicked.

"You seem very fond of her." Small Lady observed.

"She was my second favorite pupil." He replied.

"First being?" Small Lady asked.

"Endymion."

"Of course." Small Lady replied. Then she seemed to flicker in and out, and in place of the tall Lady stood Rini.

"It seems you cannot maintain your adult form for too long." Helios said as he approached her.

"Not until all the lies have been cleared up and I'm officially reunited with my mother." She said. He drew her into his arms and held her protectively.

"You think she will ever forgive me?" she asked, her voice small and watery.

"You are just as a much a pawn in this game as she is. She will definitely forgive you." He said gently to her. She clung to him and he held her. He knew how frightened she was of meeting Serena, after all, if she hadn't scent a mirror image of herself into the future and past, things might have turned out differently for her mother.

"Shall we go prepare for the coming of your mother?" he asked her. She stepped back and nodded. Holding hands, they walked out of the garden into the palace, both very anxious of the future.

* * *

"So many things I tried to hide in other to protect and look what the outcome came out to be." Serena heard and stretched her neck up from her curled up position. Looking up she saw the former queen of the moon standing over her. Slowly she uncoiled herself and sat up, not having the energy to move away and wondering even if it was worth it.

The queen bent down to eye level with Serena and touched her forehead gently. The crescent moon insignia blazed and Serena found herself in the queen's garden, well, the place that should have been the queen's garden before it was destroyed. But still, she could tell the place was trying to grow life because there seemed to be an aura of peace there and little grasses and buds of flowers were sprouting out from the ground. Looking for a suitable place to sit, they found a long tower collapsed on its side. They sat and for a while neither said a word.

"I always thought that if I was good and did what people wanted me to do, I would be happy. And that I would have people who would love me. I thought being a good leader was not being bossy and letting everyone do what they wanted so that they won't ever blame me. And that they would be most happy being given their freedom." Serena finally said, silent tears trailing down her face.

"When a mother gives birth to children and does not take care of them and allow them to do whatever they want, most often times the children will not grow up right. Because they had had no disciplinary guidance, no moral lessons and no one to turn to. They become dependent only upon themselves to the point that sometimes nothing anyone says will get into their heads. I understand your need to give them freedom. Besides, you met them not knowing anything about your past. And when you finally learned even they didn't know you were in denial of who you were and still is. But letting people control you don't generate happiness. You taught me that." The queen responded.

The silence came again. It seemed both didn't know what to say.

"Is it true?" Serena asked.

"What is?" The former queen asked.

"Everything I've heard. Which is the truth and which is not?" Queen Serenity sighed.

"Daughter, there are so many aspect of this whole game that nothing makes sense anymore."

"Game? Game!? You call this a game!? This is my life!" Serena said as she stood up, her body shaking with suppressed anger.

"That is what this is. A game. To our ancestors this is all a game. These entire events were set up long before even I was born. It was a punishment to Selene, my mother. A punishment that would forever run down her bloodline." Queen Serenity said, looking lost and pained.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked, all the energy drained out of her. The queen sighed.

"It is best that you are told the events from the beginning by the person whose actions brought this on all of us. I will send you to my mother. She will tell you what you must know." Queen Serenity said.

Serena blinked.

"Goddess Selene?" She asked.

"Yeah. Your grandmother." Looking at her, Serena thought she had never seen such a sadder person.

"Before that can you tell me one thing?" Serena asked. The queen looked at her.

"Anything."

"Who is my mother?" Serena asked. The queen sighed and a pained look crossed her features.

"The answer is very complicated."

"No, it's very simple. Are you my mother or is Nehelaniah my mother?" Serena asked, her face set. The queen looked away and Serena thought she was not going to respond.

"We are both." She finally answered.

"What?"

"We are both your mothers." The silence that followed in which Serena tried to comprehend it was long.

"You are both my mothers?"

"Yes."

"How is that possible!?" Serena demanded, her eyes flashing. She was tired with all the games, the lies, the mysteries that had clouded her life even before she was born.

"Like I said, it is a very complicated matter. You were conceived by Nehelania, but it was I who birthed you." Queen Serenity elaborated somewhat. Serena slumped back to where she was sitting, her eyes wide, her mind void.

"Before that, I will send you to the inner part of the moon to speak with your grandmother. When she is done with you, Nehelaniah and I will explain your birth alright?" The queen said but Serena did not respond. She stood up and looked at Serena who looked so lost and her heart went out to her daughter. She leaned down and kissed Serena on the forehead but got no reaction out of the younger girl. She sighed, touched Serena's forehead again and the insignia blazed. Serena found herself in an entire field of flowers. From north to south, west to east, from every horizon, all she could see were flowers. Roses, Casablancas, lilies….thousands of flowers. Different colors and smells, exotic unidentified blossoms bloomed everywhere.

She stood up and even among all those flowers, her spirit was down. She began walking, not knowing where she was going but just walking. She felt empty, devoid. As if all her life were drain out of her. There were only two times in her life that she could remember feeling anything close to what she was feeling now. When Darien had been taken away from her by Beryl and when she had learned of his death during the battle with Galaxia. She has been so alone these past months but only now did she feel the weight of all that loneliness and pain and the need to silence herself in the embrace of death.

"Death comes at its own time. You should not seek it until you are ready." She turned around to find a woman nursing a sunflower. The woman had on a wide woven summer hat and was wearing a flowery flowing dress. But this was no ordinary woman. She knew it was her grandmother as soon as she saw her. Her skin was almost translucent and she had long translucent silver hair blowing in the wind but managing to keep from her face. She was beautiful, a breath taking sight to behold.

Even knowing that her granddaughter was behind her, she continued to work uninterrupted.

"If you will not help me, you might as well rest a bit away from here until I finish my work." She said. Not feeling particularly helpful, Serena moved a yard or two away and sat. She focused her attention on the flowers, trying to pick out different scents as a way of distracting her mind. Unconsciously she fell asleep.

While she slept, Selene approached her and touched her on her forehead. The crescent moon came alive in a blaze of golden light that changed into silver in seconds.

"See for yourself what was in the past." Selene said and left the fielded.

* * *

In her dreams, visions flashed across her eyes. She saw Selene happy, in love and free whenever she was with Endymion. She saw how all the other immortals did not support her marriage with Endymion. He was mortal, she was immortal. It just wasn't meant to be. And worst of all, Endymion was just a shepherd. If he had been some great king or something of noble status, the immortals wouldn't have taken such a strong dislike to him. But some of the immortals also opposed her union with him out of jealousy. But through all the opposition, she never cracked. She fought for her man until they had no choice but to secretly get married.

When Selene was found to be pregnant, all of the immortals were enraged at the act except for Zeus who really couldn't complain because of his own affairs with mortal women. However there was a big problem. Zeus had craved for Selene but she had turned him down every time. For her to have chosen a mortal man over him, it was infuriating. He even offered to be her second lover after Endymion but she refused him still. She knew just how valuable mortals placed on faithfulness and loyalty and thus knew she could never betray Endymion. With her pregnant, the other immortals called for the removal of her position as Goddess of the moon. They wanted her powers sucked dry and sent to live in the realm of the dead with Hades. Not wanting her that far away from him, Zeus constructed a punishment that might have just been worse than losing her powers and living in death. Endymion would be immortalize but not immobilize. He was put into deep sleep. Selene rebelled against this action and as punishment; her bloodline was cursed to live a very unhappy life. The fifty children conceived with Endymion all ended up dying except Queen Serenity and Nehelaniah.

The dream went into details, showing every single tear Selene shared, her lost of hope and the twenty years the moon turned black, casting the earth into an almost absolute darkness every night. She saw and felt her grandmother's pain and sorrows, her withdrawal from everything and everyone she knew and loved until she finally trapped herself in the heart of the moon where Endymion laid asleep for all eternity.

* * *

Serena woke up, still bathed in light as if time had not changed at all.

"Time stays still here. It's the only way I know how to deal with my loneliness. A gift from Chronos if you will."

"What, to live eternity in one day?" Serena asked sarcastically.

"No, so I won't have to count how many days I live without him. It's a mercy Crescentia, one you may yet understand someday." Selene replied. Serena sighed.

"Why do you all insist to call me that name?!" Serena demanded.

"Be not foolish child, it is the only name of yours that others cannot control. You have learned from me what you must. Now I must send you to Limbo to meet him."

"Him who?" Serena asked.

"You're father." Selene answered. Serena had never really thought about it. Who was her father; it seemed he had always been an irrelevant part of her life. A decoration and nothing more.

"I don't think I can take anymore of this story telling." Serena said. She and Selene were quiet for a long time.

"Do you know why I never liked you?" Selene asked. Serena didn't reply, hearing that hurt.

"You are such a weak little thing. You don't do what you need to do, you're always afraid; you let others tell you how to live your life. You just seem very pathetic to me. All the members of my family have been strong; it was what kept your mothers alive. You cannot rule the moon without that strength! But you, you are so different and so wrong for the throne of the moon. You cannot be loved just because you are the heir, you have to earn it and there is nothing that you have done that is worth being loved. You fought for the earth, protected people; those are just things you did out of duty and identification. When have you stepped out of your role as a good girl to play the role of yourself? Even in the silver millennium you were always like this. You don't like to see the truth right in front of you; instead you will run away until you've left nothing but untied knots behind. It's about time you owned up to yourself." Selene said and Serena stared down the whole time. She was very ashamed of herself because she had always known this; somewhere in the back of her mind she had always known it. And for the first time she realized how pathetic her existence really is.

Selene stood up and dropped a silvery gold pearl by Serena's feet.

"When you are ready to go to limbo, pick it up, fold your hands around it and say, 'take me to the realm of nothingness.' Once you have said that, you will be immediately transported there. However if you wish to return to earth, just step on the stone. A good day to you granddaughter." The moon goddess drifted into mist and vanished altogether.

For a long while, Serena sat unmoving. Endymion's words had been echoed by both Queen Serenity and Selene. Was she really so pathetic?

"Father huh?" She said as she picked up the pearl. "Well I might as well hear him out as well."

She closed her eyes and did what Selene had said to do. When she opened her eyes, she was suspended and surrounded by utter darkness. She blinked but nothing became clearer. She turned around, fear starting to crawl into her.

"Father?" she said, her voice wavering. There was no response to her inquiry.

"Father!" she screamed but still there was no answer.

Well just great. I come all this way and he…

"You know, if you keep calling father, the shadows will begin to mess with your mind." A deeply accentuated voice with an accent she could not recognize said. She turned around but the voice seemed to have come from all directions.

"Who are you?! Show yourself!" A light, like candle came on and she followed the floating light with her eyes until a man with his body cast into shadow except his face came into view. He had thick and black facial hair that nearly covered all of his face.

"Who are you?" Serena asked.

"Did you not just call me?" he said.

"You…you're my father?" she asked, hoping against hope that the answer was no. what had she been expecting, some supermodel?

"I am." Serena groaned. "Disappointed?" He asked with a chuckle. Serena eyed him warily. This was the man her mother had loved? Come to think of it, which of her mothers' was this man's wife?

"Nehelania was my soul mate. It was with her that we conceived you. The fruit of our hearts, our love. But she could not birth you so you had to be transferred into Serenity's body. But there was a problem. One sperm or seed or whatever you want to call it died during the transfer and I had to sleep with serenity to provide that or you would have been born with many defects. Nehelania took it as a betrayal and couldn't stand the sight of me or you. For her peace of mind, I exiled myself into my kingdom." He said.

"Your kingdom?" Serena asked. She really had heard nothing at all about her father other than that he had been a great, noble man.

"Limbo. I am the king of this realm, the realm of prisoners, nothingness, in between life and death. Whatever description fits." He said and began walking away. Serena trailed after him.

"But….I'm so confused." Serena said.

"That's not a first. But be patience for a few seconds and we will arrive at home." He said. Serena didn't say anything and just followed him. To Serena they were just walking in circles. Every place looked the same, every shadow the same shape.

"Correct, we are walking in the same place but through different times." The man said. Serena looked curiously at him. Though with his back to her, he was just a shadow of darkness too. She didn't know what to think of him. She wondered why she wasn't feeling this fatherly thing with him. For so long, Serenity had wanted to meet her father. And now that she had, she just didn't know what to feel or think. The man was odd and worst of all she didn't know his name.

"My name is Beorhthramm Basileolus. But for short, they call me Axel. And keep from thinking because the shadows in this realm can read your thoughts and they can imprison you through it."

"How do I keep from thinking?" Serena asked.

"Well I guess I will have to keep talking to distract you." He said. "Do you know the meaning of my name?"

"Which one?" Serena asked sarcastically and he chuckled.

"Beorhthramm. It means Glorious Raven."

"Why will anyone want to name their child that random name?" Serena asked.

"Because it is random. Limbo thrives on diversity and oddness."

"Uhuh."

"Basileolus…"

"Kingly or magnificent right?" Serena said before he could finish.

"That is right. How did you know?" He answered.

"It's where the name Basil is driven so I figured the meaning might be the same."

"You are very smart Crescentia."

"Stop….calling…me…that…name!" Serena snapped.

"I cannot. It was the name Nehelania gave you." He said and Serena stopped.

"What?...."

"Keep moving daughter. Crescentia, it was the name Nehelania gave you. Do you know what it means?" he asked.

"We were talking about your name, not mine." Serena responded stubbornly.

"And so we were. Axel means…"

"Father of peace, I know." Serena finished. "But why don't they call you your name or a shorter variation of it instead of such a totally different name as Axel?"

"My given name describes me. You just have to get to know me to understand. As for Axel, well Nehelania called me that and everyone started to follow her. She said I brought a lot of peace into her and that I walked with an aura of peace flowing beside and behind me." he said.

"Before or after she kicked you to the curve."

"Before, when all we knew and care for was each other." There was a lot of emotion in his tone thus Serena could not reply. This man, her father was obviously still very much in love with Nehelania.

"Crescentia. Crescent means to increase or to create so I'm guessing it means the same thing?" Serena asked.

"On the surface yes, but Crescentia carries a deeper meaning tied to magic than just the Crescent. Crescentia, to create, to make possible. In other to create, you must have lots of knowledge and power to create what it is you want to create with magic. That is why she gave you the name Crescentia."

"Because she wanted me to create something?" Serena asked.

"Yes and no. She wanted you to create a future for yourself. But the amount of power to create is actually her gift to you. If you could live in honor to that name, you would have enough power to break free from the curse the immortals placed on Selene. That her bloodline would not know happiness. Nehelania gave you this name so that someday when you grew into it, the magic she wove with the name would infuse your body and thus remove the brand of the curse." He said. Serena could not reply. She remembered what Nehelania had told her.

"I wasn't always evil Serenity. I choose to be become evil in other that I might be good and honest."

From all accounts, it seemed there was a different side of Nehelania she knew nothing off.

"But didn't she curse me? That I would not live to be crowned?" Serena asked.

"Because she knew as soon as the crown was placed on your head, you would die with no chance of ever being reborn. But if things happened the way the silver Millennium ended, Serenity would give you and everyone else a second chance to live. That was why she cursed you." Serena sighed.

"It seems everything I have known is turning out to be a lie." She said.

"Not exactly, the truth is just a little twisted and out of order. Close your eyes." He said. Serena closed her eyes and a wave of bright light opened from under them and they began to fall. Serena's eyes flew open and when she saw she was falling toward the ground in the open blue sky, she began screaming. The food she had eaten earlier that day wanted to fly out of her mouth. Then suddenly she felt herself being drawn to a warm body and she passed out.

Axel looked at his daughter and sighed.

"Why couldn't it have been a boy?" he said. All his dealings with women never ended well.

* * *

Haven reached the barren field known as The Silent Grave, Raven stopped to look around. It was as she remembered it, the entire ground black and brown, not a single green or any other colors. She sighed; it was dangerous to cross the field on foot. The ground was hot as lava and if that wasn't enough, the painful cry of Queen Gaea still echoed in the field and everyone who crossed it can hear it. If a person is not emotionally strong, it could drive them insane. And at present, Raven wasn't feeling so secured in her emotions. After so long, she was going to see Endymion. Yet there was this doubt in her, as if everything was just a dream. Another ghostly chase of a dream that had disappeared.

Looking at the field, Raven once again understood the pain the late queen of Elysian had felt. When King Balthazar, her husband, had died when she was pregnant with Endymion, she had wept silently for many months. Once Endymion was born, she left the palace and came to this field which was once filled with flowers and trees and so much life. The birth of Endymion had caused the queen to break apart and seeking refuge, she came to the field that held all the fond memories of her and her husband. But the memories overwhelmed her, she started to sob out loud, and the pain increased until finally she went mad and let out a piercing, heart wrenching scream. The pain was so much that her powers went out of control and exploded, killing the land and the flowers and the trees.

When the queen was later found, she appropriately named the field, The Silent Grave. Because after that day, the broken queen was gone and in her place came a strong woman who would do anything for her one and only child. Raven remembered the queen saying, "I not only buried my memories of him there, but I buried myself as well. In other to live, one must die."

Raven began to glow with the aura of her power and scarlet wings rose out of her back. The wings were huge on both sides of her; it could easily wrap her whole body in its fold. Set and firming her mind solely on the prince she sought, she lunged forward, keeping her mind off the field and fighting the phantom deathly cries and drawls of a heartbreaking scream.

She had to see Endymion and nothing was going to get in her way!

* * *

Serena woke up in a very beautiful golden room. The walls, the bed, the curtains, everything was golden with little silvers here and there to truly accentuate the perfection of the room. The bed she laid on was four feet off the ground and very wide with nettings and silk blankets and all. It was a luxurious room that took her breath away. She was in a room that was more than fit for any princess, prince, queen or king. To her right, there was no wall, instead an entire glass wall that reflected things on the outside but from the outside all you could see was your own reflection.

She sat up and robbed her eyes as if trying to believe what she was seeing. Then as if in a trance she got up, saw a little stairway that led from the bed to the floor and walked down on it and onto the lushly silky carpeted floor. Her foot just sank into the soft, warm material. Right in front of the stair or ladder that led from the bed to the floor were golden slippers. She put it on only then noticing the silky, yellow lingerie sleepwear she had on. It was see through and she had on a flowy cover that was not button at the front so it did not cover her see through front , short dress which only came up to her upper thighs.

She walked toward the mirror, fascinated by the field of flowers reflecting off her mirror. As soon as she touched it, the mirror wall disappeared and she gasped as she beheld a scene almost as beautiful as the flower field within the heart of the moon.

It was like her room was connected to the outside and the glass wall was the only thing that divided it. The sky was such a pure vibrant blue that she could not take her eyes off of it. She had never seen a sky so beautiful. At the heart of the flower field was a fountain. The fountain was shaped like an open rose standing on its stem. And on the rose with their backs toward each other were angels holding jaws with water rising up and falling down. Then right before her eyes the whole fountain took on a different shape, two phoenixes in flight. A few minutes later it changed to a woman with wings with her hands raised upward and the water is rising from her palm. Over and over it changed every minute and Serena stood there fascinated. But the thing about the fountain that was so unique was that it didn't look like it was made of cement, or a still statue. No, it looked so real. The angles looked real, the woman was an exact replica of queen serenity and the roses that came and went look real and came out in all colors. Serena had never seen a thing so fascinating in her life.

"The field," a voice said from behind her and she turned around quickly. "Connects directly to Elysian." A man, a beautiful man stood before her. Men weren't described as beautiful or gorgeous, just cute and handsome. But there was no other way to describe this man other than beautiful or gorgeous. He was magnificent, utter perfection. Prominent jaw, Dark Sapphire eyes, a really kissable lips and a long mane of hair that fell all the way to the floor from his back. There was something so perfect about him that it scared her. Nobody was allowed to look that good! He wore a long black robe that fell to the floor too, his hands folded in front of him within the robe. And on his nose rested a very small eye glass.

"Fa…f…father?" she asked, her voice shaking. He smiled and she sank to the floor. That smile lightened his whole features that it was just too beautiful to take standing up.

"It seems the illusion does not work on you." He said and Serena just stared at him dumbfounded. He walked toward her and went on his knees to shorten the distance of height between them.

"This glasses on my nose is not for seeing but to create an illusion you saw earlier when I came to get you. To everyone else, I am an unshaven, hairy caveman. There are a few people I choose to share my real appearance to. I realized that what you saw when I came to get you was the illusion so I was going to wait until you woke up and show you my real appearance but I guess it isn't necessary. It took a while but you definitely have the gift of sight, to see past illusions. There have been only three people who saw past the illusion without my help. Well, some of the immortals could see the real me but others such as Aphrodite, Hera and the other vain immortals could not see. Selene was the first to see past the illusion, afterwards was Zeus and a few others." He said. Serena still just sat there with her jaw dropped.

"The three people who saw past the illusion were Queen Serenity, Queen Gaea and Endymion, the shepherd lover of Selene. I believe Gaea was able to see past the illusion because of her husband, who was my bestfriend. Or maybe not. Gaea is very powerful and seeing past illusions had always been her thing though my illusion isn't exactly an easy thing to get past. As for Serenity, well I don't know but she saw me the moment she laid eyes on me. Same with Selene's lover Endymion." He said. Serena found the breath to speak.

"What about Nehelania?" Serena asked.

"She did see past the illusion but in a different way." Axel repled.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

"Once, she was blind. That was why even though she was the oldest child, the throne had to be given to Serenity."

"Oh." This Serena had not known. He roused up and stretched a hand to Serena who took it gingerly.

"You must eat. There is much you must know and much you must decide on." He led her out of the room into a little courtyard where Cherry blossom trees stood everywhere and their flowers were flying all around in a crazy but beautiful dance. Under the biggest of the cherry blossom tree sat a fluffy couch and in front of it was a table with a vast selection of food. He sat her down and sat beside her.

"Eat daughter." She looked at him.

"But where is everyone else?" she said and he chuckled.

"This is all for you." He replied.

"I can't eat all this by myself!" she said, eyeing the food with wide eyes. It looked so mouth watering and her stomach was crying out for a taste.

He sort of massaged his head, looking a little sheepish.

"I did not know what you would prefer so I had the maids cook all of your favorite foods." He said. She shook her head. How to start or what to start with was the challenge.

"Thank you." She said. "But if I get fat, I'm blaming you for this." He laughed loudly.

"You will not be fat I promise you. You are my daughter for a reason. We have a healthy appetite and a very fast and strong working metabolism. Besides, there is a certain limit of weight the children of the moon cannot exceed. Once you reach it, every food you consume will be for nothing. You wouldn't even need to eat for many years if you wanted to. But if you did, the food would all just come out but the energy within them would be stored and formed into crystal gems for times you need it." He said.

"Oh." This she had not known.

"Yes, so go ahead and eat. While you do so, I will tell you of the events of the past." He said. Serena nodded and made to take a plate. But the plate floated up on its own. She turned wide eyes on him and once again he laughed.

"Just say or think what you want and it will gather them all for you. But be careful, if you do not think the exact amount you want, the plate will be over flowing." He said.

"Oh ok." As she imagined all that she wanted and the exact amount, he watched her with a little smile at the corner of his mouth.

After she seemed to have finished picking what she wanted, she sat back and the food, fork, spoon and napkin placed themselves on a tray and floated before her.

"I don't think I will ever get used to this." She said and he chuckled.

"After a few months here, you will get used to it."

"I'm staying here?" she asked.

"Well your room has been vacant since your birth." He answered.

"Oh. Wait…what?! My room?!"

"Yeah. The room you woke up in."

"You mean the princess room!?" Serena nearly screamed.

"Well you are a princess if I'm correct." He said with a little smile.

"With a room like that, I wouldn't ever want to leave it."

"But then you will miss the beauty of this place." He said. Serena just shook her head and began to eat. For a minute silence reined.

"I met her when she was sixteen. Serenity that is. She and I fell in love, madly. But as it turned out, she had been engaged to Apollo so she got married to him." Axel said, his voice very distant.

"Wait…what? Apollo as in the god of the sun?" Serena asked.

"Yeah. He was the only one who stood up for Selene with the whole deal with Endymion. Selene figured if Serenity can be with him, the immortals would release the curse on her family. Understanding this, I backed out respectfully. It hurt her, it hurt me but there was nothing she or I could do. A year later I was on Leiveira visiting the royals there when I met Nehelania there. She was born blind but even then she recognized me. I was sitting outside enjoying the fresh air when she came up behind me." He chuckled and touched Serena on the arm so she could see his memories.

She saw them that first day on Leiveira, the other encounters and the love that eventually bloomed between them.

"But not all were pleased." He said when he moved his hand away.

"Aries wanted Nehelania as his but unlike Serenity; she was never going to leave my side. Nehelania and Gaea were very close so she always went to the Elysian queen for counseling and advice. Serenity eventually learned to put away the pain she felt in seeing us together to be happy for her sister. But Gaia wasn't happy. I guess she wanted me to be hers but I had chosen Serenity and when she was out of the picture I didn't come to her but instead choose Serenity's sister. She was furious. She had a witch friend so she went to that witch. She was a very powerful witch, one step away from being a goddess herself. She agreed to help her if she promised his son to her daughter. Gaia made the promise and the witch took on the form of Serenity. If they were going to destroy me and Nehelania's relationship, they might as well tarnish Serenity's reputation as well. Nehelania and I were expected to meet at Leiveira as we often did twice a week. But that day I couldn't go. At the time Gaia had been my friend and I told her everything. I who could normally see a person's true character could not see hers. That was just how great a manipulator she was. So I told her to go tell Nehelania that I couldn't make it. My biggest mistake. Always has been always will be." He sat silent for nearly thirty minutes and Serena could only wonder at what was going on through his head.

"She told the witch and the witch took on Serenity's image and created a doll like figure in my image. Causes a whole host of mayhem. She had the doll of me she created go and abduct princess Thania, then brainwashed most of the royals until that very night they called for my death. Unfortunately for us, everything went according to their plan. Nehelania appeared when the doll of me was being beheaded. And then she sort of lost it and destroyed every living thing on Leiveira." He sighed.

"Also Gaia made sure she knew that Serenity was behind the doll me getting beheaded. Well the fake Serenity but of course they wouldn't tell her that. At the same time Serenity was found to be with a child so the story was complete. Serenity's baby was mine and when I said I couldn't be part of her life, she decided to kill me instead. Everything was turned against Serenity yet she had no idea what was going on." He sighed and Serena saw the pain in his features.

"Eventually the problem grew bigger and things went out of control. Of course Nehelania was pregnant then and I wasn't around. Once every four years I need to visit the outer realms and when I'm gone, there is no way of communication. By the time I returned, Nehelania had been exiled to the shadows of the moon against her and Serenity's wishes. But she hated Serenity and she was a month away from giving birth. Serenity was only a week away. But there was a problem." He said and sighed. Serena had long since finished eating by then.

"What was it?" she asked.

"The pressure and everything had built such knots in Nehelania that if she waited another more week, the child, you, would die. And she could not give birth on her own before her body felt ready. We were running against time and nothing made sense anymore. Serenity volunteered for you to be transferred into her body by an advance magical spell but Nehelania wouldn't hear of it. She wanted to birth you herself and so would not listen to reason. She had picked out a name for you, a room, everything a new baby would need. And Serenity only had one week before her womb would be closed forever since the queens of the moon apparently couldn't birth more than one child."

"How did you guys know this? I mean you said all the children of grandmother's died except Queen Serenity and Nehelania." Serena asked.

"Yes, they died but it was not their time yet. But before Serenity, others of the fifty daughters ruled. But because they all died, almost thirty sat on the throne as queens all within ten to fifteen years." Serena took in a deep breath. How horrible and how painful it must have been for Selene to watch every one of them pass on.

"And all who sat on the throne as queens gave birth to only one child and those who did birth so much more. But they all, along with their daughters and sons died. This was why Serenity was in a rush to have a child; neither she nor anyone knew when next she would be following her sisters. Now when Serenity gave birth, the child died. And in the moment, I transferred you out of Nehelania's body into her womb and a week later you were born. Of course Serenity had known what I had done but we could not tell Nehelania. She had already made threats before and knowing her, she would have followed through with all the threats if she had known. So we kept the secret of your birth safe and made her believe you were Serenities. Unfortunately, her dislike for Serenity grew."

"Why?" Serena asked.

"Because when I transferred you into Serenity's body, you were missing something from me. a sperm, a particular one in my blood that was needed to give you your gender. Since Nehelania birthed you, you didn't have to be a girl as all the children of the throne of the moon are girls. But unfortunately, because you were supposed to have been born male out of Nehelania, that male sperm did not transfer over to Serenity's and thus your gender was undecided and she had only a week to birth you. There was only one way to fix the problem." He sighed wearily here.

"You had to sleep with the queen." Serena finished for him. Things were starting to make sense but that did not mean it was easy to accept what had happened and still was happening.

"That caused two major problems. One, it made her believe that I had been sleeping with Serenity behind her back and what Gaia had told her about me choosing not to be part of Serenity's life when she told me she was pregnant with my child seem true ."

"Wait a minute….weren't you supposedly beheaded?" Serena asked.

"Yes, but when I turned up, Gaia had to cover the lie. She told Nehelania that it had been a doll created by Serenity to fool her in other that if she believes I was dead, Serenity would have me to herself by using the crystal to change my appearance."

"Oh God." There were so many lies and heartache it was becoming very hard for Serena to follow along.

"And two, Apollo was so upset that he split up with the queen. But for your sake, she didn't explain anything to him and took in all the humiliation. I tried as much as I could to be there for her but she would not let me. She told me that if she were to die like her sisters, she needed me to be seen as pure and able to take the throne in other that I might protect it for you. Because then people were starting to rebel. So she made up this whole story about her seducing me using a very powerful seductive spell and what not. When you were five, you accidently bumped into Nehelania and immediately she realized you were the child she thought she had lost. Secondly, she saw your death at the throne and she also saw a way out. If you died before you sat on the throne, there will be life afterwards. One cannot live without dying first."

"Serenity and Nehelania are both my mothers." She said, trying to take everything in. her head hurt and things were spinning out of control in her head but she was beginning to understand the entire web of lies, deceit and pain Gaia and the witch had woven around all of them. Cursed and thrown into mysteries of lies, that had been what her life has been about since her first birth in the silver millennium. And while she could not help but be a victim at the time, she knew better now. She could not afford to let this cycle of pain and sorrow go on. It was enough. She was tired of dealing with it, paying for someone else's mistake, living hell, she was tired and her shoulders just cannot carry anymore weight.

"But, the sisters said that Raven had seen…."

"What the sisters said isn't a lie. But what they saw were just the illusions created by the witch to obscure the truth. When they saw the witch in the image of Serenity causing me, well the fake me to be behead, they believed it. Because Raven's vision has never been nothing but accurate. But Raven was dealing with a witch who was much stronger than her in both magic and strength and didn't know she was being manipulated to see what the witch wanted her to see. I heard what the sisters told you, they told you everything they saw and how they interpreted it, but it is wrong. It is wrong but they did not lie to you."

"So then why was the promise for them to be our guardians not fulfilled by the rulers?" Serena asked.

"Serenity did not want them involve because she was trying to protect them. The rulers were using their daughters to get close to Serenity so they might absorb the power of the silver crystal. And since the rulers had decided these were they children they had chosen to represent the planets in the alliance, there was nothing Serenity could do. And worst of all, having the elementals as your guardians could have jeopardized your claim to the throne. Already they were trying to strife Serenity off the throne, letting scouts rumored to be evil with dark powers and all close to you was definitely pushing her luck."

Serena felt absolutely horrible. Such misunderstanding, miscommunications, and dramas. Why had she not been aware of any of it? Had she truly been that blind?

"Serenity did all she could to protect you from everything. She made sure you wouldn't be bothered with what was happening. She wanted you to grow up happy, not fearing your place in life. Never once doubt that Serenity did not love you or that she did all that she did for purely selfish reasons. She loves you with all her heart. You were the gift that comforted her when she lost the only child she could ever bear. You are her child, no matter what anyone says." Axel said as she ruffled Serena's hair.

"Ok, I've got one more question." She said.

"If you didn't, I would be surprise. I'm guessing you want to know about Endymion right?" Serena nodded. So far everything made sense except the deal with Endymion.

"It was not Serenity who wove the spell around Elysian. It had been Nehelania in the guise of Serenity. Gaea could not tell this because there is a lot of undercurrent similarities between Serenity and Nehelania's powers. And of course, Nehelania had not been seen for years. Queen Serenity knew that if you got together with Endymion, Nehelania's curse on you would not come to be. Nehelania could not let that happen so often she posed as Serenity and made it seems that the queen was the one totally against you and Endymion's union. Worst of all, Gaia wanted to hook up her son, Prince Darien with you so that she might also have access to the silver crystal. But she made a very stupid mistake."

"What was that?" Serena asked.

"The promise she made between the witch and herself to engage their children. The witch was furious but she was about to die. She needed to do something. So she went and awoke Matallia in exchange for her daughter, Beryl to claim the promise and to rule over everything."

"Beryl!"

"That's right. Beryl was the witch's daughter."

"No wonder she wanted Endymion, well Darien, so badly."

"It was her promise to claim. But you got in her way so to speak. Eventually the queen realized that having you close to Endymion might not be in your best interest so it was best to just keep you away long enough for her to figure out what she should do. That was why she erased your memories, because you were very impatient and impulsive. She did not want you dead because of those character traits of yours."

"But wasn't I about to marry someone when Endymion showed up to supposedly reveal all the queen's secret?" Serena asked.

"Yes. The marriage was just a set up, in order to draw attention away from you because Beryl, Matallia and all the forces were waiting for you to make a move. In other to draw all attention from you, we, Serenity and I pretended to be wedding you off so that Beryl would think it was too late for Prince Darien."

"But the sisters said Endymion was locked in some prison that would drain all his energy."

"He was. I locked him in that prison."

"Why!?" Serena stood up and turned to face him. She was confused.

"Because Endymion was hotheaded, impulsive and impatient just like you. He would not listen to reason and his powers were going out of control. His true self, as Crescentius, was emerging uncontrollably and we feared what he would do with those powers. So I locked him in that prison until half of his energy was drain and he would finally listen to reason. He did. Serenity sent him to me. She knew the moon kingdom was about to fall but she also knew how to save everyone. Endymion was to have come and stay with me here in limbo until your rebirth. In Limbo he would not grow because there is no time here. Also he was to train with me so that he could learn to control his powers and gain strength so that he could restore Elysian back to the surface of the earth. But we didn't have time to explain all this to him. And he came with the sisters. I was closing the doors of limbo to the outside world and he escaped by the help of the sisters. But he was caught in the flow of time when Serenity wished for all of your rebirths. But I didn't want him to be reborn, because the he would lose too much of his powers. Because the future you guys were heading to didn't have as much magic as the past had. So I brought him here into limbo but because I had interfered with the power of the silver crystal, he could not be reborn but neither could he be active. Until you were born, he was to stay asleep for the thousand years. The moment you were born, he woke up and with the doors of limbo opened, he run out as if escaping or something. He hates Queen Serenity and still thinks she and I mean him harm. He will not listen to any of us, not until we have supposedly handed you back to him."

"This is all just too much to handle." Serena said.

"You are right." He said and placed his hand at her left cheek. "Sleep." He commanded softly and she instantly fell into a deep slumber.

"Is everything that you told her really what happened?" Haven suspected they were there for so long, Axel slowly turned to face the leaders of the Maxine, Cassie, Alex and Hera.

"Everything I have told her is the truth." He said.

The wind ruffled, leaves fell and Axel and Serena vanished. The sisters were left in the fields of Elysian.

* * *

Read and Review. It's taken me nearly 2 weeks just to write this. *cries*


	9. Chapter 9 The Changes

I didn't have the chance to review and edit so please deal with the mistakes.....which i know there is many. especially in this one.

**Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story**

**Chapter 9 - The Changes**

To say they were in shock was the understatement of the century. After returning home to inform everyone with the exception of Raven who had taken off to who knows where, the elemental scouts sat in silence, pondering everything that had just been said and feeling myriads of emotions.

"So, we've been wrong all this time? Everything we knew was a lie? A terrible plot?" Alethea asked as a tear fell down from her wide open lids. She was saddened by what she had just learned from her fellow sisters contrary to the other emotions all were feeling.

For a while, no one answered her or said anything at all. They were all trying to wrap their brains around the web of betrayal, lies, deceits and pain that had been caused because of one person's greed and selfishness.

"You know…" Maxine said, looking up with a sad smile, "I can't blame Beryl for what happened to the silver millennium. Sure she was the one who physically destroyed it but in truth, the actual destruction was caused by the earth queen. Beryl was right to fight for Prince Darien, he was her betrothed. Hers legally and truly."

"She was as much a pawn in the mad queen's games as we were." Lava said, her normally twinkling eyes empty. Once again, a big silence penetrated the room for a while.

"And the one person we all blamed was the most innocent of it all." Maeve said, drawing all their attention on the queen of the moon, Queen Serenity, who had only tried to save everything all by herself so that no one else would have to suffer. She carried the burdens of everyone, shouldered the blame and the humiliation which she did not deserve and still fought for her people and for her daughter. They had hated the queen for so long thinking she was a monster and a deceiver, but she was neither. She was as pure and clear as the bright silver moon.

"Ha…" Lava laughed with a bitter and sad smile, "Raven is so going to be pissed off if she learns she had been deceived through her own visions."

Maxine sighed, she dread Raven's reaction when she learned of all of this.

"I don't think she will be quite so surprise." A voice said in the room. They all drew their attention upwards to where the voice had come from and they watched in awe as the queen of the moon descended into their mix.

"Queen Serenity." Cassie said softly under her breath as the others watched her in alert and awe.

"Good evening Elementals." She greeted but no one responded. They were all too shock to open their mouths. She looked from one face to another but Rhea and Rae avoided her eyes. The former queen of the silver millennium sighed and walked the short distance to sit by Maxine. There was silence for a few minutes as they all wondered what the queen as doing at their house.

"If you've come to laugh at us for being fools, do it and get it over with!" Alethea, looking straight at the queen said before turning to face a different direction. The queen shook her head. She did not blame them for anything that had happened, nor did she blame them for the distance they had almost put between her and her daughter. They had not done it out of malice but out of love. They thought they were protecting Serena.

"I don't think anyone has the right to laugh at someone else. We were all used in a plot we knew nothing about until the end. But it is no use to continue living repeating the mistakes of the past." she said and all their attention returned to her.

"It was your place to become my daughter's guardian, that position is still yours. I never intended for you to be out of her life forever you know. I just hoped that she would sit on the throne before you became her guardians because of how opposed everyone was to you guys becoming her guardians. I thought the only problem I was facing was the throne of the moon being taken away from my daughter, but my biggest problem wasn't even Queen Gaia." Serenity said as she looked up to the ceiling. Her words though had caught their attention, especially the part of Gaia.

"What exactly do you mean by Queen Gaia hadn't not been your greatest problem? She was the cause of the fall of the silver millennium!" Alexa said indignantly. Queen Serenity looked at her.

"I do not deny that daughter of wind. Gaia is much to be blamed for almost everything." She said.

"Almost?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, almost. You see, while I was fighting to find a way to save everybody, there had been a way that could have resolved the problem that would have spared the Silver Millennium from its destruction."

"And that way was?" Maeve asked.

"To allow Crescentia and Crescentius to mate. To have approached Beryl and shown her the deceit that had been caused by her own mother. Beryl was not a bad person, not before she began to feel that her betrothed was slipping away. And if only I had been aware of the web of power forming around Elysian. If only I had been aware…" she said with a tired smile.

"But Queen Serenity, how do you know that those three ifs would have made any difference?" Hera asked quietly.

"Because Chronos and Pluto knew. Even working under me, Pluto was ever faithful to her father. It's wasn't just them but Uranus, Neptune and their families knew. All the queens came to know of the knowledge of how to stop the destruction and they kept it out of my ears and knowledge." She answered with a sigh.

"Why!?' Alethea demanded, looking wounded.

"Because they wanted me and my blood line off the throne. The reason they were so opposed to having you guys become my daughters guardians was the fact that you guys sincerely loved Serena and you would never betray her. They could not control you guys to do what they wanted you to do but the others they could. Their will were not as strong as you guys' and they could easily be manipulated."

"Oh God, how can they be so petty!?" Maxine asked, getting angry by the minute.

"But, didn't they know that their worlds too would be destroyed?" Maeve asked.

"No. But Chronos knew. And he also knew that everyone would be reborn again and when that happen, Pluto and the outers would manipulate my daughter. So even if it seems she is ruling crystal Tokyo, the true ruler would be the outers with the exception of Saturn."

"Now I know why I've never liked that scout of time." Alexa said.

"Do not be mad at Pluto, yes she was very loyal to her father. And yes, she hid the truth from me but she was as much a victim as all of us. She knew the silver alliance would be destroyed and she also knew that everyone would be reborn. But she was deceived by her father who brained wash her into thinking that the rebirth would bring about a world of peace and prosperity that was much grander than the silver alliance."

"So she thought the destruction and deaths were little price to pay for the beautiful world that would come out in the end?" Cassie asked.

"Yes." The Queen answered.

"What a fool." Lava asked.

"Foolish yes but it was their motivation. Pluto, Neptune and Uranus. However, after they were reborn, they realized that the only world of paradise they would have was Crystal Tokyo. But Serena did not want such a future, which is why they sort to break her and make her do what they wanted. If she had no confidence in herself, if she doubted her every decision, if it looked as if she was incompetent without them, they could easily manipulate her into making Crystal Tokyo possible. And they did so by tampering with the Inners memories and ideals. Of course they had Darien's full support, after all, he had stolen his rival's most treasured possession and he had no intentions of returning her, especially knowing that it would kill Endymion. What Serena didn't know was that they scouts often held secret meetings without her even before the past several months that they haven't exactly been on good terms. Those secret meetings were the doings of the three outer scouts and it was there that they filled the Inners head with what kind of person Serena is 'SUPPOSED' to be. They made the inners believe that she was supposed to be this grand and graceful princess but instead she was being selfish and would condemn all of them if they did not force her to become 'HERSELF'." Queen Serenity said with a tired sigh.

"Wow….how sick can they get?" Laverna asked, shaking her head in disgust.

"I'm guessing they had not counted on us to appear?" Cassie asked.

"Yes and neither did I. But I guess Endymion was always one step ahead of the outers because he kept trying to counter what they were doing by sending people into Serena's life who could change the course of the future. Unfortunately, Serena's low self esteem made her a puppet to the outers' strings. Having all your friends and soul mate tell you that you are worth nothing without them made her believe she needed them and so could never find the strength to break away. In the end, I guess Endymion realized the only ones who could truly help Serena were you guys so he led you to Serena through himself as…"

"Xander." Maxine answered, her eyes widening in realization. When the realization dawned on the others, their eyes opened wide too.

"Of course, it all makes sense now! So Endymion had been with us all this time and we didn't even know…" Maeve said.

"But….Xander didn't have any memories." Hera asked.

"No, he did not but Flavius did." Queen Serenity said.

"Of course. Remember that day Xander randomly said he wanted us to come to Tokyo? When we asked him why, he said Flavius insisted that we do. When we got here , it had been Flavius who had led Xander to that garden in the park to meet Serena." Alethea said.

"Yes and even though Flavius does not like people, he became very attach to Serena even when she hadn't yet done anything to earn his love." Hera added.

There was silence for a minute.

"Wow….we really are blind." Maxine said with horse laughter.

Cassandra stood up and walked to stand in front of the queen with all of them watching. She knelt before the queen and bowed her head so low that they touched the floor.

"On behalf of my sisters, I humbly ask for your forgiveness. We accused and caused you great pains that were not warranted. Please, permit us to see Endymion one more time and permit my sisters to live for I alone will shoulder the burden of our foolishness. Please, let me be punished. If my punishment is death, I will gladly accept it but please, let my sisters live. We had not meant any harm; we just wanted to protect the princess we were born to protect. Please." Cassandra begged.

It took a minute for what she said to sank into all their heads and when it did, they all rose up quickly to take the same position she was in.

"Please Moon Queen; forget what our older sister has said." Maxine said.

"We will shoulder our own punishment." Alexa said after Maxine.

"But I beg you, please let Hera live. She is too young to die." Maeve finished.

"Look, young or not, I am part of this magnificent team of sailor soldiers. And I am much at fault as all of you. If you guys are to be punished, so will I be!" Hera countered.

"You guys don't be stupid! You guys need to live!" Cassie said.

"Why? So that every day we will remember that the only reason we live is because you had to die? That would kill us more than us having to die now for our slanders. We are a team Time; we've always gone through everything together. Live or die, it is all or nothing." Lava said.

"Just hear me out…" Cassie tried again.

"No, you hear us out…"

"Enough!" Rhea cut off Alexa. All turned their attention to the two twin sisters who had not at all spoken and were kneeling at the back of the group. Rhea stood up and moved forward.

"Queen Serenity, it was our mother who caused all these miseries, pains and destructions. We cannot begin to pay for all that she had done. However, blood is indeed thicker than water. Please, let my sisters be and punish me for the crimes of my mother."

"No, punish us for the crimes caused by our mother." Rae said, coming to stand beside her sister.

"Rhea, Rae…" Maxine began but the sisters turned to face them with tears flowing down their cheeks and onto the floor. They looked miserable and in pain.

"Aside from Darien and herself, my mother loved nobody. Not even our father. Do you know that Darien is our half brother? She did not conceive him with our father." Rhea said.

"So naturally, she did not love us. But she is still our mother and her crimes are our crimes. To think that our mother was so horrible to this extent." Rae finished and dropped to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

"Please, believe that we did not betray any of you. We didn't know any of our mother's plot or else we would have stopped her!" Rhea said as she knelt by her sister and held her as she looked from one face to another, seeking some sort of forgiveness.

"Of course not Rhea." Cassie said softly, know how terrible it must feel. These two young ladies felt the burden and gravity of their mother's crimes and they felt responsible for them.

"Besides, as far as I'm concern, Gaia was not your mother!" Lava said, anger tight in her voice.

"But Lava, she is our mother. And that's a fact no one can deny." Rhea said and pulled her sobbing sister into an embrace as she turned to the queen.

"We are ready for the punishment." She said, drying her tears and looking as determine as she could muster. To think it was their own mother who had caused all these sufferings. Their own mother who had killed millions of people. Their mother who had destroyed a time of peace and prosperity. Their mother who had caused these wonderful and beautiful ladies that they had come to love as their sisters so much pain. Their mother who had caused every single tear shed by their princess, their mother had been the root of it all. Had been at the root of Queen Serenity's pains and lonely struggles, Nehelania's descend into madness, Endymion's lonely separations from his beloved princess and ultimately the death, destruction, and sorrows of everyone living creature that had existed in the silver millennium. Their mother's crimes were numerous and even death would not be enough to make up for what their mother had done. But they had nothing other than their lives that they could give. Hopefully someday, their mother would be forgiven and so would they.

"Please Queen Serenity, please don't listen to them! They are innocent! They cannot carry that burden, they are not their mother!" Maeve shouted as she shed her own tears. No, the twins had no reason to be punished. The Elementals, though deceived, had committed a crime against the moon queen but the twins had done nothing! Why should they have to pay for the crimes of another even if it was their mother? Why!?

Queen Serenity rose to her feet.

"As you wish." She said to the twins.

"NO! Please NO!" The elementals shouted frantically. They all rushed around the twins and sheltered them in their midst as the queen glowed with power. A minute later, the physical appearance she had appeared in gave way to her transparent appearance and she rose her hands over her head. A ball of silver light formed in her hands and it grew bigger and bigger.

"My Queen please, please, don't!" Cassie said, looking frantic. Hera who was much closer to the girls began to glow with a dark black light as she chanted dark incantations in a chilling cold voice. Sweat rand down the side of her face as she chanted faster to make the time.

The queen opened her arms and the ball of light exploded and flew directly at the group that was hurdled together.

"Naïy!" Hera shouted but it was a little too late. The queen's power hit them full force and the light flooded the whole house. When the bright light eventually died down, the room was as it was but the queen and the girls were nowhere in sight.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Amy, Lita, Rei and Mina screamed.

"No no no no! They can't be dead. No! Queen Serenity why!?" Lita said as she smashed her fist down the floor. Amy fell to the floor of the silent house and cried into her hand . Rei stood there in shock as Mina fell back unsteadily against the wall.

"This can't be happening." Rei said as she too dropped to her feet, her eyes glued to the spot where the elementals had hurdled together to protect the two earth princesses.

"Why? They didn't deserve this. We were the ones at fault, not them." Amy sobbed.

"Give them back! Give them back! Damn you! Give them back!" Lita yelled as she slid to the floor with her head resting against the wall.

From an open window at the other side of the room, Sailor Saturn watched in heartbreak as inners sobbed for the elementals who had been so brutally punished for a crime which was really not their fault. She stepped back away from the window and detransformed back to Hotaru. Tears trailed down her face as misery and nausea gripped at her. She stumbled clumsily away from the house, her eyes vacant as if there was no life in her.

As she walked away, she recalled what had led to the scouts coming upon the elementals and their untimely demise….

"You guys, follow me." Pluto said. After giving one more look of disgust at the elemental soldiers, the scouts followed Pluto out with Darien trailing after them.

They detransformed and staggered all the way into the taxis Darien stopped for them. Deciding that they were all too tired to hold a meet right then and of course with Rei out cold, it was best for all of them to go home and rest.

The inners too one taxi along with Darien and the outers took the other taxi and they headed home. First to be dropped home was Lita, then Amy. Seeing as that Rei was not waking up, Mina decided to stay with Rei at the temple so they were dropped off and Darien left with the Taxi to his own apartment.

Borrowing the last of her sailor powers, Mina hoisted Rei over her shoulders and climbed up the long temple stairs. By the time she reached the top, she was so tired that she fell over with Rei.

Hearing the noise, Grandfather Hino, Rei's grandpa ran to them and carried both girls the rest of the way to Rei's room. Despite his age and short height, the old man was pretty strong. Tucking both girls in bed, he left them wondering what the heck had happened to his granddaughter and her friend.

Across town, Lita immediately fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed, completely worn out. Amy had managed to take a very quick shower before she climbed into bed and slept like a baby.

Haven reached their homes; the Outers too sought comfort and warmth from their beds. Wordlessly, they left for their individual rooms. Michelle took a quick show and so did Trista but Amara and Hotaru were tapped out before they even made it to their beds. But having found themselves unable to go to sleep even though they were tired, Trista and Michelle retreated to the living room to have tea and recuperate their lost strength from the fight.

As they sat with thoughts aimlessly wondering through their heads, Hotaru rose up from her sleeping on the floor to go use the restroom. She was so disoriented that she left her bedroom to use the bathroom down the hallway even though she had a bathroom in her own room. As she approached bathroom which was near the living room, conversation between the two older scouts picked up. If it had been a normal conversation, she would have continued on without pausing but the first words that came out of Neptune's mouth and especially with that worried tone made her curious so she stopped to listen.

"What are we going to do now? Things are not working out Trista."

"I know. But don't worry, I will find a way to relocate those bloody scouts." Trista answered, her voice tight with anger.

"I'm also worried about Lita and Mina, it seems they are not fully under control."

"We will have a talk with those two later. We've come too far to have everything we've worked so hard for go to waste. Crystal Tokyo will come to be no matter what we have to do. It's just a matter of time." Trista answered, her eyes narrowed in determination.

"I don't know…" But Hotaru retreated and softly rushed back into her room. She blinked. What the heck were they talking about? Under control? What exactly did they mean by Lita and Mina not being under control? Control of what? Had they misbehave somehow? Hotaru lay on her bed, absorbed in her thoughts and totally forgetting about the fact that she needed to use the restroom. Eventually, her bothered thoughts lured her into a restless sleep.

As she slept, her room began to glow but the source of light was not just any random magic. The glowing of her room resulted from the glowing of her insignia on her forehead. Her sailor outfit appeared on her and she rose up. Well she didn't, but the spirit of Sailor Saturn rose up, leaving her body sleeping. Her spirit looked at her sleeping form and blinked.

"What?" she asked with wide eyes as she stared at her hands.

"We don't have much time, come, follow me." Saturn look up to find sailor Saturn standing in front of her. But this Saturn was different. She was taller, older and glowed with a power that was ancient and very powerful.

"Huh?" small Sailor Saturn said in confusion.

"We don't have time. Tuck the covers around your body and follow me." the older version Saturn said and the younger spirit did as her older version told her to do. After tucking the bed covers around her body, small Saturn followed Big Saturn out the window and through the sky.

Just as soon as they disappeared out of view, the door to Hotaru's room opened and Trista stood there looking in with a puzzled expression. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she closed the door and walked back away, the worried expression permanently sealed on her face.

Up in the sky, the two versions of Saturn watched Trista's retreat from the room.

"Let's go." The older version said. The evening had finally come and they flooded through the evening sky heading to who knows where.

"Where are we going?" small version Saturn asked.

"We are going to the grave site of the former queen of the earth."

"What!?"

And so little Saturn followed big Saturn to this unknown destination just as soon as thunder began cracking and the clouds folded over each other. To the grave sight of a dead royalty, what an adventure.

* * *

As the thunder cracked and the rain began to fall, the inners woke up one by one. The first to wake up was Lita. The first crack of thunder had her up and alert. She looked around but there was nothing there. She shook her head and headed to her restroom to wash up. As she began cooking up something to eat, Mina woke up next.

When her eyes opened, she sat up and looked around, remembering what had happened. I guess I was knocked out. She said, running her hand through her hair. She realized that her trade mark bow was out and was lying right by her side. As she turned to pick it up, she saw Rei lying by her side and she breathed.

"You got the worst of all of us didn't you? That Raven girl is a killer." Mina said as she sat up straighter and stretched. She looked around the room and it was clean and organized as ever. She sighed, leaned her head back against the wall, closed her eyes and reviewed all that had happened between them and the elementals.

"We are no match for them. Those girls are dangerously strong; somehow I know they were holding back on us." She murmured as she finished her review. She closed her eyes again, trying to relax her mind.

"**I…I think we have lost sight of who we are." **

"**Our destinies as scouts are to protect, not destroy. We are here fighting like cats and dogs yet what is our reason for fighting? Is this what Serena wants? For us to kill each other cause if it is I would have no problem in doing that." **

Her eyes flashed open as she remembered Maxine's words. For some reason when her elemental partner had said that earlier, she had felt a stab of pain. She who was the soldier of love whose very nature was to maintain piece had lost sight of that.

-No… I had lost sight of that long before the fight earlier.-

As soon as that realization dawn in her mind, her eyes widened and a tear trailed down her cheek. She blinked and held her head as image after image flashed through her head. And all those images were of one person with one expression. Serena crying. Each image that came also came with each word she said to her.

"No." she murmured.

_**Useless. **_

_**Worthless.**_

_**Grow up.**_

_**I don't want to serve a weak princess!**_

Each word, each phrase, each hurtful and spiteful look she had ever said to Serena resurrected in her mind as if seeking its revenge.

"_**No! Stop!" She screamed as she held her head tight in her hands. **_

_**Who wants to hang with a loser?**_

_**You can't even keep a boyfriend!**_

_**You're hopeless.**_

"Oh God. Stop it!" She screamed loudly as she brought her leg close to her body and held her head.

"Stop, please stop." She said again, tears falling down her face in waves.

"Mina?" She looked up at Rei as the sleepy girl tried to sit up.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked. Seeing her chance to escape her sudden guilt trip, she threw herself into Rei's arms and sobbed loudly.

Not knowing what was going, the confused priestess held her friend and tried to sooth her as best as she could.

* * *

Haven finished cooking; she sat down to eat when the doorbell rang. Not expecting anybody and not really being in the mood to have company she debated whether she should get the doorbell or not. The insistent ring of the doorbell though told her that the person at the other end knows she is home and will not stop ringing the bell until has answered. Sighing, she rose up and began walking towards the door. Almost as soon as she reached it, her phone rang and she wanted to pull her hair. She unlocked the lock and yanked the door open, ready to scream at whoever was disturbing her peace.

"Hi." Amy said with her cell phone stuck to her ears.

"Amy?" Lita asked, opening the door wider for Amy to enter with her umbrella. As soon as she entered, she loosened the umbrella and sat it by the door. Then she took of her shoes and followed Lita to the living room where she had sat before to eat. Amy sat by her side and leaned herself on the handle of the couch.

"Come eat Amy." Lita said, making room for Amy.

"Sorry but I just ate." Amy said.

"Oh." Lita said and began eating her Mac & Cheese.

"So, what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Lita asked as she chewed her first bite.

"I don't really know. I wasn't sleeping well and I was thinking and I just felt the need to talk to someone. In the end I felt the best person to talk to is you." Amy admitted.

"I am the most un-insightful person in the group. The best person to talk to is Mina." Lita said and stuffed a spoonful of Mac & Cheese in her mouth.

"Maybe…but my heart led me here." Amy answered. Lita raised her brow but said nothing.

"Do you think maybe we've been wrong?" Amy asked.

"Wrong about what?" Lita asked.

"About Serena." Amy answered. Lita gave her a puzzled look. "I mean, wrong about the way we've treated her these past months?"

"I don't know. Our goal was to help her grow up and take her responsibility seriously." Lita answered.

"Was it?" Amy asked.

"What do you mean?" Lita asked back.

"I just feel that along the way, our goal changed from helping her grow up to making her do whatever we wanted her to do." To this Lita had no come back.

They sat in silence for a while as Lita continued to eat.

"When I first met Serena, she was so immature. But she was so pure and innocent. Always laughing. And whenever she klutzes out, she would either laugh it off or wail. I thought she was really cute. Being around her, I felt happy and free. I felt that around her I didn't need to try so hard. I had lived my life trying to please others, my mother, my teachers, my classmates. But with Serena, I finally learned to live for myself because of how she was. Sweet, open, innocent, immature and playful. I remember thinking that even as we age; I hope she would never change." Amy said, looking far away into memories she had almost forgotten.

"Why did I forget that? My hope came to be, Serena didn't change but I did. I change but I didn't become what I wanted to be." Amy said, tears trailing down her face. Lita stopped eating though in truth she was already done. Haven listened to Amy's words had prompted memories of when she had met Serena.

She remembered thinking the exact same thing as Amy, that Serena never changes. She remembered making a promise to protect Serena's purity and innocence.

"I said the same thing." She said softly. Amy looked at her and she smiled a very sad smile. "That I didn't want Serena to change."

"She didn't. We did." Amy said

* * *

Having calmed down from her crying, Mina composed herself and took in deep even breaths.

"So, are you going to tell me why you're crying?" Rei asked. Mina looked at her for a long time. Of all of them, it always seemed that Rei was the one who least liked Serena. Why she could not begin to guess but they had not helped the situation by all of them turning against Serena. The more spite they were to Serena, the more happy Rei seemed. Why was that?

"Rei, why do you hate Serena so much?" Mina asked.

"I do not ha…"

"That's a lie and you and I both know it!" Mina snapped. Rei blinked and ran her hand through her head.

"I DO NOT HATE Serena. I just get very annoyed with her." Rei said again.

"Why though?"

"Because she is so childish! She needs to grow up."

"Ha!" Mina barked. "Grow up? Like us? You wanted Serena to become like us?" Mina laughed.

Rei folded her hands over her chest as an indignant look crossed her face.

"And what's wrong with her being like us?" She asked.

"Are you stupid or just plain retarded?" Mina asked and Rei blinked. "You want Serena to be like us? Bitter like you. Serious like Amy. Forceful like Lita and foolish like me. These are the characteristics you want our princess to have?"

"I am not bitter." Rei said through gritted teeth.

"Oh Rei, I feel so sorry for you." Mina said and stood up. She picked up her bow and walked to the door to put her slippers on.

"Where are you going?" Rei asked, stung by what Mina had said but trying to hide it.

"To go see Amy and Lita, those who have the heart to hear and not justify their false actions." Mina said and left Rei sitting there with a stupefy expression.

* * *

In his dark apartment, Darien sat looking through an album of pictures Serena had put together for him a while back. Each picture had people laughing. Him, Serena, Rini, the girls, Molly and Melvin. Andrew, Elizabeth and other random people.

These weren't just pictures with smiling memories. Each picture had a memory, a memory of true laughter, a memory of a time of happiness.

Before learning about his past, Darien can honestly say he had been totally and completely in love with Serena. But when his full memories resurrected, he forgot his own feelings as well as Serena's. Instead of following his heart, he was much more excited by the knowledge that he had finally taken Serena away from Endymion. That was when it began. He began to undervalue Serena, took her for granted, saw little use of her.

What was the point of stealing someone's precious someone if the person wasn't around for you to rub it in his face?

By the time he realized it, his feelings for the moon princess were so deeply buried that it didn't matter whether she was around or not. He was ready to break of his relationship with her when Pluto approached him and promised him that Endymion would soon return. Fearing that because he had been slacking up on her Endymion would take her away without so much as a fight the moment he arrived. So to chain her to him, he decided to break her, then comfort her and make her think that she needed him to live. If she was that deeply attached to him, Endymion would never be able to take her away and he would have finally won the war over that prince who was everything he was not.

"You were everything I was not. Smart, good looking, sincerely nice, strong and powerful, loved above all princes. Sought after by every female in the universe. Just the perfect guy, the perfect prince!" Darien said with so much anger that he unintentionally crushed a picture in his hand and threw it to the wall.

"Why!? Why couldn't I be like you!? Why couldn't I be like you!?" He yelled as he smashed his hand on the floor, tears trailing down his cheek.

"Why?" he sobbed.

In the end, he did come and he knew that he had lost her completely.

* * *

As the rain continued to fall and the thunder continued to crack, Saturn continued to follow the spirit of the older Saturn. Several hours pass but she was neither cold nor wet. It was good thing her body was left back.

Eventually, they arrived on a dark island. The entire Island was encased in a wall of brick and magic. If Saturn had come in her physical body, there would have been no way she could have entered the sealed wall. There was no entrance or exit. As it was, even their mere spirits struggled a great deal and endured a hell of pain before they could walk through the wall. On the other side, flowers grew and spread all around. In the center of the flower field was one tall tree and beneath it was a black tomb stone. As they approached it, Saturn saw what was written on it though the words were of a different language.

– Herein lies a woman who had no heart –

That was all it said on it in big white prints on the black stone slab.

"Is this it?" Small Saturn asked, thinking the grave stone did not befit a queen of the earth.

"Yes, this is it." The older Saturn answered.

"Ok?" Small Saturn said as she took one more look around. "So, why am I here again?"

"To learn the truth. You need to make your stand Saturn because now the time has come to choose who you will follow." Older Saturn said.

"Ok, I know you are me. But which time period are you from? Past or future?" Small Saturn asked. The older one looked at her then looked up at the sky. It was then Small Saturn realized that there was no rain falling inside the wall.

"I am you of the past, you of the present who knows the truth and you of the future. I am all." She said. S. Saturn just sighed.

"So, what truth are you planning on sharing with me?" S. Saturn asked.

"One moment. Now, put your hand on the stone." The O. Saturn ordered. Looking at her funny, S. Saturn did as she was told. She felt a rush of cold, chilly air when she touched the stone but nothing else happened.

"Now, focus your mind past this stone, to the remains of the woman lying here and back to when she dirt into her life."

Small Saturn tried to do what old Saturn was instructing but she could not understand what exactly she was supposed to do.

"See past what is in front of you. Think of the woman, what kind of person she was, what she liked, what she didn't like." Older Saturn instructed again. Small Saturn finally grasped what her older self wanted her to do so she did, focused her mind and sort the image of the lady in her mind, seeing past the stone, the walls and the flowers. The only thing that felt real was the cold feel of the stone against her hand.

"Now just open your mind to her memories and let it flow over you." older Saturn said. Relaxing her tight grip on her mind, Small Saturn sought with her mind who she was supposed to be looking for and eventually found a lady in a field of flowers very similar to the one they were in.

Then the memories began to rise and soon, Saturn was lost in the memories of the former queen of the earth.

* * *

Appearing at Lita's door, Mina rang the door bell. Inside, the TV was on but the volume was very low and the two girls sitting on the couch were quiet and softly nodding off. The sound of the doorbell startled them awake and on their feet. They looked at each other at first then the sound came again.

"I need to get rid of that noisy contraption!" Lita said through gritted teeth and Amy giggled. She stamped to the door and once again yanked it open.

"If that's how you open your door, you won't have a door much longer." Mina said after the initial shock of having witness Lita yank the door open and Lita ran her hand through her hair in a nervous gesture.

"Come in." she said and Mina entered. Closing the door behind her, Lita walked ahead into the kitchen as Mina discarded her umbrella and shoes. When she walked into the living room, she found Amy sitting there and she raised her hand in greeting.

"I called your house but no one picked up." Mina said to Amy as she took a seat on the single person couch.

"Yeah, mom is at work and I've been here."

"I see."

They sat in silence until Lita joined them with a tray of tea and cakes.

"So….where is Rei?" Lita asked as she sat the tray on the table in the middle of the living room.

"Sitting at home in denial of our harsh treat of Serena the past few months." Mina said and leaned forward to pick up her cup of tea.

"You too I see." Amy said.

"I'm only sorry it took me this long to come to my senses." Mina replied.

After that they all sat back down and ate their cake and drank their tea in silence. When they were done, Lita cleared the table and washed the plates and cup.

"Is it just me or have Luna and Artemis been missing lately?" Lita said when she returned from the kitchen and took her seat by Amy's side.

"Oh didn't I tell you guys?" Mina asked, blinking in surprise.

"Tell us what?" Amy asked.

"Luna and Artemis are on some sort of a mission."

"A mission?" Both Amy and Lita echoed.

"Yeah, they said Queen Serenity sent them out to find the grave site of the former queen of the earth." Mina said. Amy and Lita's jaws dropped as they stared at Amy with shock.

"Why?" Amy asked after she had recovered.

"Artemis said that Queen Serenity told that it was the only way of learning the truth." Mina answered.

"Learning the truth about what exactly?" Lita asked.

"I'm not sure. He didn't say."

All three sighed and sat in silence for a while.

"I think we owe Serena an apology." Mina said then shook her head. "I know we do. Even if you guys don't want to, I will apologize to her when I see her. I think we've made a very big mistake."

"Amy and I were just talking about that earlier. I can't believe how stupid and cold hearted we've been to Serena." Lita said.

"I'm scared that we might have totally crossed the line this time around." Amy said. No one had a reply. Serena was legendary for her forgiving heart, but could she possibly forgive them this tiem around? For all the pain they had caused her? Even if they had meant to help Serena grow up, the way they went about it was all wrong.

"You're right, this time we have crossed the line. But all the same, I want to apologize to her. She deserve that much." Mina said.

"Right." Lita greed and Amy also nodded her confirmation.

"Oh by the way, where is Rini?" Amy asked.

"She's with the Tsukino's I think." Mina answered.

"Oh ok."

"You know…Serena's birthday is coming up." Lita brought up.

"Oh yeah. Want to do something for her?" Mina asked.

"Yes. As our way of apology." Amy said.

"Ok then. It is decided. Now let's think up on ideas of what we can do." Mina said, her eyes lightening up with the excitement of her new project.

* * *

As the other inners planned the perfect apology gift for Serena, Rei sat in front of the sacred fire in the temple, trying to gain some insight from the fire. But her mind was so disturbed and in chaos that nothing was coming to her.

"Bitter? Hmph… Rubbish. I am not bitter." To say Mina's words had affected her badly was putting it lightly. Ever since Mina walked out of her room and house, Rei had been bothered by what the soldier of love had said.

"It's because we been so soft on her that she has become so spoiled!" she nearly yelled.

"Have you really?"

"What?" Rei asked, totally surprised by the voice that seem to have come out of nowhere.

"You think you've been going easy on the princess? Now there's a laugh." The voice answered again. She looked from left to right then behind her but there was no one there and no way of pinpointing where the voice was coming from.

"You've walked with me all this time and yet you cannot recognize my voice. What a sad little priestess." The voice mocked.

"Who the hell are you!?" Rei yelled. The fire blazed up and she swiftly turned her face to it. In the fire, she saw an image of Serena crying.

"Before she met you, this was how she was." The voice said again. A picture of Serena laughing with Molly, Melvin, Andrew and even Darien showed up. Rei blinked at it for a minute.

"But after she met you, this is how she has become." The voice continued and the image of Serena crying with deep sad eyes emerged in the fire.

"So while you sit there trying to justify your actions, think about what you has truly done that was in Serenity's best interest!" The fire roared up once again and Rei frantically scooted back and away. The fire rushed down and vanished. There was not even a single puff of smoke. There was nothing.

Rei's eyes opened wide with fear. This had never before; the sacred fire never went out! Not even water can turn it off!

"GRANDPAAA!" She screamed loudly. A minute later she heard the quick approaching footsteps of her grandfather.

"Rei!" he called out her name as he burst into the room. He rushed to her side immediately and held her shoulders to calm down her violent trembling.

"Rei, Rei what's wrong? What happened?" She did not reply his worried question. She was so frightened but she could not draw her eyes away from where the fire had gone out. Grandfather followed her gaze and his eyes opened wide in astonishment to find the fire not there.

"Rei….what happened? WHERE IS THE FIRE!?" He demanded, letting her go and quickly walking to the altar where the fire always sat.

"I….I …I don't know! It' just….It just went out grandpa it just went out!" Rei cried, tears falling hopelessly down her cheeks as she crossed her hands over her chest and held herself. Her body shook with every drop of tears that fell from her eyes as her mouth let out a heartbreaking cry.

Grandfather Hino stood in front of the altar, staring at it with wide hopeless eyes.

"No no NO! This cannot be!" He said as he fell on his knees and laid his hand on the altar stones.

"Why? Why?! We've kept our end of the bargain! So why!?" He yelled, pounding his hand hard against the stone made altar as he cried.

Rei stared at her grandfather from her position on the floor with eyes of pain and confusion. What bargain was her grandfather talking about?

* * *

While Rei faced the crises of diminished fire, Amy, Lita and Mina slept soundly in their positions on Lita's couch after exhausting their brains on ideas of things to do for Serena.

In the same hour, Hotaru finished undergoing her memory transfer and fell back and away from the grave yard.

"Impossible, no…this cannot be!" She gasped with eyes that spoke of so many emotions, but the dominant one being pain, anger and disbelieving.

"That is what truly happened in the past. The story is yet over. The outers also play a part in the past that they continue to play today. If you want to know the full truth and their part in all this mess, the best people to talk to would be the Elementals or Queen Serenity." Older Sailor Saturn said.

"And all this time, to think we blamed Beryl! And Darien and Endymion are two different people!? I mean what the heck?" Hotaru asked, the anger starting to overshadow all the other emotions.

"You do not have time for this. Hear me daughter of Hades. Time is very short and I cannot be here for a moment longer. The time has come for you to make your stand and chose who you will follow. When Serena returns from limbo, you will have to make your choice. I will advice you now to go to the Elementals before that happen. Learn all the truths you can and make a decision that you will not regret. If you are anything at all like me, I know you will make the right choice. Remember, whatever choice you make now will be the life you will live for the rest of your life. So think carefully little Hotaru. Who is more important to you?" Older Saturn said as she began to flow up into the sky and glow.

"What?" Small Saturn said as she looked up at her older version self.

"I must go. Open your thoughts to your body and you will return to it in a flash." The older Saturn glowed even more and became very transparent. From her feet, she started disappearing.

"No please, don't go!" Small Saturn screamed, getting up onto her feet.

"I am sorry little one but my time here was very short. I have shown you the truth of the silver millennium and how it truly came to its end. Now it is up to you to seek the other pieces of the puzzle. Make the right choice Saturn. A choice you will never live to regret."

"No wait. Please …don't GO!"

"We will meet again." Her older version said and disappeared completely. Left alone in the grave yard, Hotaru cried for many hours before finally drawing her spirit back into her body. And as she slept on the bed, silent tears trailed down her face. To have lived a lie all this time a burden that was proving too hard to accept.

* * *

An hour had passed since the sacred fire went out. Finally calmed down, grandfather and granddaughter sat down to talk.

"Ok Rei, tell me everything that happened. Don't leave anything out!" Grandfather said, looking very serious. Rei had never seen her grandfather with such a serious expression before and seriously, that worried her.

"Ok. Well I was sitting there talking to myself when a voice spoke." She began.

"What did it say?" Grandfather asked with wide eyes. Rei recounted the event to her grandfather. The old man sat still for a very long time.

"Grandfather?" Rei asked, worried by his silence.

"Rei, do you know how long that fire has been in this family?"

"No?" Rei answered uncertainly.

"That fire has been in this family for five centuries and never once in all this time had it ever gone out. Know why?" he asked.

"Mm…mm" she answered, shaking her head.

"That's because we respect the fire. We do not lie in its presence. We keep a clean and good heart. We admit our mistakes and ask for forgiveness with a pure contrite heart. Long ago, your great grandfather inherited this dojo from a priest who was about to die. As the rules are, no priest is allowed to marry. Accepting that fate, he lived for many years as a single man. But at heart he was lonely. One night, a phoenix fell from the sky like a meteor, scorching the land it landed on. When the king and the court discovered it, it was very weak. They tied it up and sealed it in a dark room with no sunlight. A phoenix needs sunlight. They planned to use it for their own means and gains but your great grandfather would not have it. Knowing that going against the nobles would cost him his life and he might not even reach the phoenix, he snuck into the room they sealed the phoenix in and after persuading it that he meant it no harm, he got the phoenix to cooperate with him and finally freed the phoenix. But still, the beast was far too wounded to fly away so he hid the beast under this temple and nursed it until it was strong again. But eventually, your great grandfather was discovered and captured. Because he would not release the location of the phoenix, he would be beheaded. But before the giant axe could slice of his head, the phoenix soured up into the sky and with a mighty burst of fire, it set the city on fire. Many brave soldiers came to fight it but the beast was too powerful. People began to flee and with no one to guard him, the king was under the mercy of the phoenix. It wrapped it clawed leg around the throat of the king and squeezed it with the intention of snapping the king's neck. But our great ancestor stopped the best, offering to die in place of those wretched courts. Great grandfather pleaded and pleaded with the beast until it finally calmed down and let the king go but not without a strong warning that if he tried to harm great grandfather again, his life would not be spared. But even then, the phoenix could not fly away from the earth to whence it had come from because it was still wounded. It took nearly a year of constant care from great grandfather for it to heal. But when great grandfather expected it to leave, the beast decided it was tired of flying around in the universe and so it made a deal with great grandfather. It would become a source of protection, strength, sight and wisdom for grandfather if he promised to take a wife and have a child. Because only his bloodline would ever have the honor of coming to it. However, the catch to it was that even among the descendants of great great grandfather, only those of pure hearts, strong will and a sense of justice could command its power. In return, it will extend the life force of all who managed to become a priest of the temple that the phoenix approved of. Honored by such a great gift, great grandfather took a wife even though he was sixty years old. As was promised, great grandfather's life was extended. He lived up to two hundred and 60 years along with his wife before he died. Then the phoenix picked my father to be the next priest and he too lived up to two hundred years. That is four centuries past. And then it finally chose me next and I have lived a century."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat!? Grandfather you mean to tell me you are a hundred years old!?" Rei asked, her eyes wide with shock.

"Of course. And yes, I look younger than that because with the extension of our lives comes the extension of when we change from kids to teens and from teens to young adult and then into adult. Right now I am in my young adult form!" Grandfather said.

"Wow…I didn't know any of this." Rei said, trying hard to believe everything she had just heard.

"Now back to the story. As great as these gifts or life and protection the beasts had given us were, there was a condition. If there is a priest or priestess that is allowed to command its power but the person has an evil or mean heart, it will leave our family and along with it, its gift. And how we would know is that the fire would immediately go out with no warning. Do you understand granddaughter?" Grandfather said, his serious face and expression back again.

Rei nodded slowly.

"From the beginning the beast didn't want you as its priestess." Grandfather admitted with a sigh. Rei looked up with a sharp intake of breath.

"What?" she asked, her eyes wide and shinning with tears.

"But I begged it to consider you, believing that in time you will change and you will not be so bitter about losing your mother and having such an uncaring father. When you met Serena I was so happy because I began to see a change in you. Even the phoenix said if you would allowed yourself to be folded in Serena's love and grace, you will change and become worthy of becoming its priestess." Grandfather said, his teeth gritted together as his hand shook.

Rei sat there, stunned to learn of this.

"So why!? Why Rei Why!?" Grandfather yelled, ager flashing in his eyes. Rei looked him with wide, frightened eyes. She had never seen her grandfather this mad in all her life!

"Why?! After everything I've given you! Why couldn't you just appreciate being alive!? Why couldn't you see the changes Serena made in you?! Why did you blind yourself to the blackness of your own heart?! Who in this world hasn't faced pain and disappointments before!? But you used it a sa shield, becoming more selfish, more demanding! Not knowing when to quit! And going so far as to destroy the spirit and heart of such a pure and beautiful girl as Serena?! Why!?"

"You're saying it's my fault?" Rei asked with tears bubbling in her eyes.

"No. It was my fault. My fault entirely, for believe that you had any worth at all." Grandfather said, looking at the dead alter with tears falling down his face.

Rei gasped at his words and ran out of the room crying. Burst out of the temple, she ran out into the cold, rainy night, stumbling and rolling down the long flights of stairs. Even as her body made heavy impact to the floor, the crying priestess picked herself back up and continued running, having no idea where she was going and only knowing to keep running.

* * *

Mina bolted awake, sweating and gasping hard. She hadn't realized she had let out a scream of pain. Hearing it, Amy and Lita too woke up.

"Mina!" Lita said and quickly ran to the girl who sat there with a frightened face.

"Mina, what's wrong?" Amy asked worriedly as she came to kneel by her friend's side.

"I don't know. I feel like something is very wrong." Mina answered shakily, her eyes still wide and frightened.

Lita and Amy stared at each other before turning back to her.

"What do you mean exactly?" Lita asked. Mina shook her head.

"I don't know. It just feels like someone is in a great emotional trauma."

"Who?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. I don't know but the feelings I am sensing are very strong and could ultimately be very dangerous." Mina said, taking in deep even breaths to calm her nerves.

"Well, what can we do?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. Call Rei and let's see if she is alright. Then we will try the Outers." Mina said.

"On it." Lita rushed to the phone and Amy sat beside Mina, holding her gently and massaging her head.

"It's alright. I'm sure it will all be ok." Amy whispered softly.

Lita walked back into the living room shaking her head.

"The line is dead and my cell isn't working either." She announced. Both Amy and Mina promptly took out their phones and realized the tone was dead too.

"Let's wait a while and see if these feelings you are having will change." Amy advised.

"Besides, it will do us no good to run about in this storm." Lita added. They all nodded and sat up to wait and see what will happen.

* * *

Rei ran and ran, grandfathers cutting words striking her over and over again.

This was what she hated most about Serena. In the end, everyone chooses her. In the end she always came on top. Darien had chosen her too. She honestly believed she was more beautiful than that airhead and it was obvious to everyone that she was also way smarter and more mature. So why?! Why did she always loose to Serena!?

-Because, Serena was never competing. - She came to a sudden stop as that thought finally hit her.

"Serena was never competing?" she said out loud with wide eyes. Standing still as the rain continued to beat down on her.

Of course Serena was never competing. She didn't even know there was a competition going on! It had been her who had made everything between them a competition! It had been her who had seen Serena as a threat! Before Darien and Serena became an item, Serena had just been an eyesore. Just an annoying girl who had no worries. Back then, Rei was so confident that Darien would choose her. But instead, he chose her. A girl who was so below his class. It was then Rei began to see Serena as a threat. She forgot that they were friends, only remembering it when their lives were at stakes. And before she knew it, she had made Serena her rival in everything. But even without trying, Serena always came up on top and that hurt her more than anything. She always always tried, but Serena never. So why did she always loose!? Why!?

Lightening struck and startled her. she looked up and the light of the lightening illuminated where she was. She realized she was at Serena's house. She blinked. All the lights were out, the family was sleeping. Slowly, she made her way to the gate of the house and climbed up the walls that surrounding it. Landing in their front yard, she made a bee line to the tree that stood in front of Serena's window. There she stood up and looked at the veranda that led to the glass door. Lightening struck again and she saw that the curtain inside that blocked anyone from looking into Serena's room was drawn.

She began climbing up the tree and soon she was standing on the veranda. Slowly, she made her way to the door. She was hesitant to touch the glass door but forced herself to anyway. She pushed the door to test it out and it opened automatically. She was startled and moved back. When nothing happened, she held the door again and pushed it open.

She opened the curtains with her hands and looked into the dark room. The lightening struck again and she saw it was empty.

Of course it's empty dummy! Serena was taken by that Xander guy. She said to herself before stepping in and closing the door behind her. haven been to Serena's room so often, she knew where the light switch was so she walked to it and turned the light on. The room had changed considerably since she had last been in it several months ago. it was cleaned and looked like a room fit for royalty. The irony. She had no doubt this had been the doing of the elementals.

Walking to the bed, she sat on it. The bed was the same except the covers had been changed. She looked around the room, seeing changes that showed that truly Serena had changed. But not because of them. These sisters had done in days what they had been trying to do in years and they had done it in love and patience.

"How stupid." She said, meaning that to herself. As she was looking around, her eyes caught on a book sitting on the desk. She walked to the desk and realized it was an album. She opened it and view through, reading all the little notes Serena left under each picture. In the middle of the album, she came on a picture of just her and Serena. There had been pictures of just her and Serena before but this picture was different. It was as if it was taken when she wasn't aware of it. She was way behind Serena. And there was nothing written underneath it. She took out the picture and turned it around. On the back, there was something written and she read it.

_This is Rei. We aren't exactly friends. That's why I had Melvin take the picture in secret. I wish I could be friends with her. We are both sailor scouts, if not I have a feeling she wouldn't talk to me at all. I think she is really cool though, a bit of a brat but she would be a wonderful person to have as a friend. Who knows, maybe if I keep trying, one day she will be my friend. I will hope and pray for that day to come soon._

After reading that, a tear dropped from her eyes.

I was so stupid. I wasn't mature at all. Serena was the mature one and she is more beautiful than I will ever be. How could I have been so blind?

Then she heard it, the approaching of footsteps slowly creeping toward the door. She closed the book, quickly turned off the light and was out the veranda and down the tree in seconds. She quickly climbed over wall of the house and took off running again. Somehow she felt that she needed to go to Lita's house and so that's what she did.

Arriving at Lita's house, she banged on the door and seconds later Lita let her in. Because she was soaked to the bone, Lita had her take a hot shower, gave her hot soup to drink as well as Tylenol before taking her clothes into the washer in her apartment. When all was done, they settled in the living room and she explained what had happened to them. They realized then that it had been her emotions that they Mina had felt.

"I have an idea." Amy said.

"What?" Lita asked as they all watched her.

"How about we pay a visit to the elementals tomorrow." They all looked at her.

"Go on." Mina said.

"I've been thinking about what Nurturer said. I think it is best to talk to them and see if we can't make peace." They all pondered on it.

"I think you are right." Rei said. They all looked at her surprise. They hadn't expected that at all from her since it always seemed she hated the elementals more than anyone.

"Good, so are we all in?" Amy asked.

"Count me in!" Lita said with a smile.

"Me too." Mina agreed.

"Mee too but I think we shouldn't tell the outers about this." Rei said.

"Why?" Mina asked.

"I just have a funny feeling that we shouldn't."

"Alright. I think that's fair." Lita said.

They rest of the night they talked about what time they should go visit and if they should take something as a peace offering until they finally fell asleep.

* * *

When morning came, they all rose and showered and baked some cookies to take with them to visit the elementals. They were a bit nervous but they felt that this was the right thing to do. After they were all dressed and ready, they left Lita's house and took a taxi back into the house they had nearly destroyed just the day before. As soon as they got out of the taxi, they saw that windows to the house were opened and they could hear voices. As they drew closer, the conversation that was going on caught their attention. Years of eaves dropping made it irresistible to not listen more so they crept closer to a window and listened as some of the sisters recounted some things they had learned from a man who was supposedly Serena's father.

When they made up their minds to have their presence known, Queen Serenity arrived and the news she brought with her shocked them even more. By the time they realized what was going on, the queen had let loose her power and they burst into the room, intending on stopping the queen only to be met by an empty room.

* * *

READ AND REVIEW! This took me hours to write! *cries at her aching fingers*


	10. Chapter 10 Confrontation

Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story

**Chapter 10 - Confrontation**

A week has passed since the scouts went to visit the elementals only to hear and witness their disappearance. After what they had heard, all the lies and deceits were cleared and the tampering of their memories was no longer possible. When you don't know something, it's very easy to pretend it doesn't exist but once you witness it, it is nearly impossible for you to doubt its existence.

Haven realized that they had been made a fool of, the Inners decided on a course of action, one that would not end in blood but would definitely serve as a warning to the Outers, with the exception of Saturn, that if they ever tamper with their memories again, blood will be spilled. Leaving the elementals house one week ago, they set a course to the home of the Outers. They arrived the same time Hotaru arrived.

"Hotaru, we've got to talk to you and the rest of the Outers." Mars said evenly. Though Saturn had not been specified in the deceit, it was hard for the Inners to know if she was totally innocent and much a victim just like themselves.

"I know. But please believe I just learned about everything last night and today. I was at the elementals mansion and I too witnessed their disappearance." Hotaru answered, a look of sad resignation on her face. They knew she spoke the truth and seeing the same kind of hurt in her eyes, they comforted her. Taking a moment or two to compose themselves, Lita transformed into Jupiter and knocked on the door. As she knocked, Rae, Amy and Mina also transformed.

As they heard footsteps coming toward the door, Jupiter charged up her electrical powers, conjuring a ball of lighting that floated an inch over her palm. Mars too conjured up a ball of fire as Venus pointed her finger to the door as it glowed with the power of her guardian planet.

As soon as the door opened, Venus let loose the power in her finger and it shot out several energy blasts, throwing the person who opened the door backwards and smashing her to the far wall.

The feel of power and the noise made by Trista who had unfortunately opened the door alerted the other two Outers in the house and they came rushing to see what was wrong. As soon as they came in plain sight, Jupiter and Mars let lose their balls of power, letting it smash into the unsuspecting older girls.

Fueled by her own hatred toward herself for what she had done to her princess and the deceit that the Outers had been a part of that had led to the possible death of the elementals, Mercury let lose particles of ice, freezing up the entry way and down the hall, up the walls and to the ceiling. Then she let out a breathe of air, intensifying into a strong wind as it hurled toward the fallen Outers and encasing their entire body except their heads in a block of ice.

Shocked by the power their supposed weakest member had just demonstrated, the Inners stood with wide open mouths as they stared at what Mercury had just done. Even she could not believe what she had just done. She stood there for several minutes, blinking and taking in this new demonstration of control over her powers.

The first to recover was Hotaru and as she walked inside the suddenly freezing entry way, the Inners finally came out of their stupor and followed her. When they reached the Outers who had blanked out, they stood still, waiting for them to wake up. As they stood waiting, Hotaru left them there and walked deeper into the house and into her room.

Something in her was eating her alive. To think that her group, the Outers who were revered and respected during the silver millennium would stop to such low levels to attain their wants. And she had been blind to it all. The betrayal cut so deep into and she wondered if she would ever again have the courage to face Serena.

They had hurt her, badly. And it took being hurt herself, for her to realize just how painful their treatment of Serena had been. She had only had three people who betrayed her, but Serena had been betrayed by all of them. If just by three people it hurt this much, how much more everyone?

Her mind pulled back to the previous night, something her older version had said before she disappeared.

"When you posed a threat to the safety of the earth, the Outers, your comrades had wanted you dead. Remember who had been ready to give up her life so that you may live. Remember who gave you a second chance to live again." Her older version had said.

How could she ever forget? But she had forgotten. She had forgotten who she owed her allegiance to, she had forgotten who her sovereign was and thus she had lost sight of who she was.

"No more." She muttered seriously under her breathe. And began to pack.

Back in the entry hall, the Outers came to only to be met with the serious faces of the Inners.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Trista asked.

"Yeah! What the hell do you guys think you're doing?!" Amara yelled angrily. Her head was pounding from the impact of Jupiter's attack.

"We really don't have the patience to explain though you already know why we are here. However if you want to pretend ignorance, we will indulge you in that but be warned. Should you ever tamper with our memories again, blood will be spilled and you can be sure it won't be ours." Venus said calmly. But each word was said with a deadly emphasis that gave no hint of a false threat.

"Tamper with your memories?" Michelle said in a clueless voice.

"Cut the bullshit Michelle. Now you listen to us, we are done with your games and manipulations. The next time you try to control us or Serena gain through any means, I swear by the sacred flames of mars, I will roast all of you alive." Mars said, her eyes ablaze in a fire of anger and a need for vengeance.

There was silence for a minute as the Inners waited for their words to sink into the heads of the three Outers. A smirk curved out on Trista's lips.

"So what? Now you are innocent? Now you suddenly want to defend Serena? She hates you guys as much as she hates us." She said spitefully.

"Maybe so. And yes, we deserve her anger and hatred. But knowing Serena, there is no sincere apology that she will not forgive. We have wronged her and we realize this now. We will make it up to her for what we have done and when she gives us another chance, we will spend the rest of our lives making it up to her and living for her alone." Mercury said calmly, knowing that every word she had spoken was the truth and straight from her heart.

"Don't you mean 'if' she forgives you?" Trista said, the smirk still there.

"You see, that's the difference between you guys and us. We know our princess. There is no if Trista. Because I know in the depths of my soul that Serena will forgive us. She always has, that's just the kind of person she is. That is why we know it is not too late for us to undo all the wrong we have done." Mercury said, a smile of relief spreading on her lips. Haven said that, her heart felt so much lighter. Her vision of Serena that had been clouded was now clear and once again she saw Serena for the pure hearted good person that she was. She didn't need to be mature or graceful to make good and right decisions; she didn't need to be queen of the whole earth to be respected, she just had to be herself. The loving, caring, klutzy girl they had known since they all first became scouts is all she needed to be.

"Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus, we are so sorry if you think we have wronged you and Serenity. Believe me when I say that we are only doing what is best for her. Crystal Tokyo is right around the corner; we needed to do this to prepare her for it." Michelle said.

"Ha." Jupiter laughed. "Prepare her for Crystal Tokyo indeed. Did you guys ever wonder if that was the future she truly wanted? Did any of you wonder if we might all have different wishes for our future!?" Jupiter yelled, her eyes pulled in and flaring like strikes of lightening. She looked from Amara to Michelle to the defiant face of Trista.

"No, you didn't. Your own selfish ambitions were all that mattered to you. Giving no care to our feelings, you've forcefully pushed us toward a future you think is best for us. Who the hell do you think you are to decide our fate? Has anyone given you that right you selfish bitches!?"

"Jupiter…" Venus began.

"No!" She screamed, tears trailing down her face. "This needs to be said! Because of you guys, the lives of the elementals are forfeited! How cruel can you guys get and to have the nerve to defend your evil course! You guys are pathetic and if you think we are going to sit there and let Crystal Tokyo be born you've got another thing coming. We will wait for Serena to come back and if she choose for Crystal Tokyo to be then so be it. But if she wants something else, I promise you that we will change that so precious future of yours. I'm only sorry that I have been an instrument for you to use against my princess." She finished in a soft voice, turned around and walked out of the house.

"Today, we did not come to fight. Just to give you three a warning. We were blind before but now we can see. We were lost, now we are found. Do not think for a second that whatever you hope to gain will be gained by the means you have used. We are still sailor scouts. Yes, in the past our powers were nowhere near yours but don't think that in this time and now that you are still stronger than us. The next time we come to you in this same manner, you can be sure it will be your end." Venus said.

"Are you threatening us?" Amara said with narrowed eyes. Her arrogance caused Mercury's temper to rise. The ice soldier's eyes flashed and Amara screamed in pain. All eyes turned on her and opened wide as they saw the ice squeezing her. Then the ice turned into sharp thorns and pierced her skin. She screamed out again in pain as her blood soaked the Ice.

"Stop it please! Stop it!" Michelle cried out desperately.

"It's alright Mercury, just let it go." Venus said to the enraged Ice princess. But it was if Mercury could not hear her. The thorny Ice continued its tearing into Amara's fleshing, causing her to bleed even more and to scream in pain until eventually she chocked on her scream.

"Stop it!" Michelle kept screaming, tears rushing down her face.

"Mercury!" Venus yelled. Even she was scared at Mercury's show of no mercy. Was this the same kind hearted girl they knew?

"Mercury please, please. Think of what Serena would do if she was in your shoes." Venus said. As soon as Serena's name was mentioned, Mercury came too and the Ice backed up, shattered and Amara fell the floor unconscious.

"Nice going Mercury." Jupiter said from the door way with a thumb up. Amara's first scream had alerted her and Hotaru and they had quickly come to see what was going on.

Mercury stood to the side breathing in and out as everyone else turned their eyes back and forth between the ice soldier and the unconscious soldier of the wind.

"It is always assumed that I am the weakest of the group." Mercury said, standing straighter and staring at Trista and Michelle. "If that is true and I am indeed the weakest then you really have much to fear. If I, the weakest can do this to the supposed strongest, then you can be sure that facing off against us will not be an easy victory for you guys." After she said this, she turned and walked toward the door, passing Jupiter who turned and followed her out.

There was a minute of silence as everyone considered her words.

"No Mercury, you are definitely not the weakest." Venus said and she knew that was the truth. Amy's persona was that of a gentle person. And her personality is always reflected in her battles, gentle. Because of that, none of them had ever witnessed just how deadly she really was and haven seen it firsthand turned on their own kind instead of an enemy, they realized that she had always held herself back. Maybe not consciously, but never had Mercury fought at full power.

"Ahem." Hotaru coughed and all attention turned on her.

"Hotaru!" Trista called out in surprise. When they had woken up this morning, she was gone. Before she could say whatever it is she wanted to say, she saw the look on the younger girl's face.

"And I thought we were a team. It took my older self, coming from whatever time period to come and show me what I could not see even though I lived in the same house with you guys. Your deceits, your lies, your games, I will no longer be a part of it. Like Lita said, if Serena desires a different future, we will change Crystal Tokyo, you can rest assure. I am moving out of this house and returning to the home of my father."

"Hotaru no!" Michelle cried but the younger girl only turned around and returned to her room.

"You guys don't understand anything!" Michelle cried out at them in frustration.

"Really? So then everything Queen Serenity told us was a lie then right? And our memories weren't tampered with were they?" Mars asked snidely.

"You talked to the queen?" Trista asked with wide eyes.

"Not per say. We went to see the elementals. When we got there they were talking about whatever they had learned from Serena's father who apparently is the king of Limbo." Trista gasped, her eyes wider.

"Then the queen showed up and confirmed and explained things so that even we could understand. You've played your cards well Trista but it stops now." Venus finished, and together she and Mars walked out of the house. The Ice that held the Outers finally cracked and set them free. Michelle immediately rushed to Amara's side to check her pulse. Then she called for an ambulance. Trista on the other hand transformed and stepped through the gate of time.

With Trista gone out of the house and Michelle busy with Amara, Hotaru packed and called her father, explaining to him it was time for her to come home. Happy that her only daughter wanted to come home, not just for a visit but to come live there with him again, he immediately called to rent a little van and with it he drove quickly to go pick up his daughter.

On their way back, the Inners were silent. They had detransformed before calling for a taxi. Yes, they had finally broken away from their obsession to make Serena into a perfect being, but where was she? Was she alright? Was she ever coming back and if so, when?

"Should we go see Darien?" Amy asked, she was very weak, this being the first time she had used so much of her powers, it had nearly drained all her strength.

"No, I suspect that like us, he is battling demons of his own." Mars said. Another silence came.

"I think he will be alright. In the mean time, why don't we go to the arcade? It's Sunday and tomorrow we go back to school. The least we can do after such a depressing night and day is to relax." Mina said, her playful smile back on her face. She was trying to be her cheerful self, forced but they saw she was trying.

"Yeah, a few video games would do me some good." Lita responded in kind.

"And I miss my regular chocolate sundaes!" Rei added.

"And I can finally read by the window again." Amy added.

"AMY!" Rei, Mina and Lita screamed at her and they fell into laughter. Even with hearts heavy as lead, they could still find the strength to laugh. This was the brightness they had been missing for the past months. Even the taxi driver who didn't know them decided that today was a good day even though he hadn't made much money.

I don't know how I came to be but in my heart I knew who my mother was. As for my father, I couldn't even begin to guess. I assume I was at the age of five when I woke up and found myself in a time warp. What I was doing there I did not know, I only knew that I was lost and I had to find my home. I remember missing my mother so much that I started crying. Not knowing anything, where my home was and even how to begin looking, I fell into any dimension time dropped me in, only to realize that I was in the wrong time period. I don't exactly know how I knew I was not in the right place but I knew I wasn't. And so for many years, well I assume it was years. It felt that way to me. I searched and searched from one dimension to another, past, present and future but I could not locate where or when I was born.

I eventually grew tired of searching. The last thing I remembered doing was falling asleep under a tree. Many years passed and I came to remember my search after I met Helios. It seemed that long ago when I fell asleep under the tree, I dissolved into spirit and entered the queen of Crystal Tokyo's womb during child birth when her own daughter, unbeknownst to the doctors, was dead. As the soul of the unborn baby left its host body, I immediately entered and took control. I was then born and raised by the queen as princess over all the earth. But people did not like me. I was odd; it felt like I didn't belong there. At the time I could not understand why people treated me that way but now I do. Even loved by the queen and king and scouts, I still felt alone. And I felt I was missing something. Deep down I knew something wasn't right, I wasn't supposed to be there but why? I had lost all my memories of searching for my mother and my home and living the life of a dead princess. Of course I didn't belong there; it was not my true home.

But I didn't realize this then. Then Diamond attacked and I was sent to Earth of the queen's younger days. Even though that time period was not my home, somehow I felt much closer to home. I guess it was all because of Serena. The queen had always been regal and graceful, but haven met Serena, I realized that the queen always had a set of bars between her and everyone else. Even between her and her husband, as well as the scouts and me who supposedly was her daughter. But Serena was different; she was free and loved whomever she wanted to love with no reservation. She did everything with all her energy and laughed from the heart. It was this shine about her, this light in her that eased at my loneliness and made me feel loved for the very first time. Despite the trouble I caused her, I knew from the depths of my soul that I loved her above all else, even above Darien.

When I had to leave and return to the future after Diamond was defeated, I was very very sad. I wanted to be in the present, to live with Serena and not the mother who kept a distance between us. I was glad when I was given the chance to come back to the present to continue living with Serena. It was then I met my third most important person, Hotaru. She was such a lonely girl that I was instantly drawn to her. I knew loneliness and I knew how painful it was. So I wanted to tell her that she wasn't alone by being there for her. Then she was discovered to be evil, then that whole big battle and then she was Saturn and reborn by Serena. Truthfully, I was jealous. I was Serena's daughter in the future, but her future self was not as warm as Serena was. I wanted to be Serena's daughter, not Neo Queen Serenity's. But Hotaru was very special to me so I was happy she was reborn by Serena. She was now my sister and that was all that counted.

Then unfortunately, I had to go back to Crystal Tokyo. But instead, I sent a letter and the gifts Serena and everyone had given me at my going away party to the queen and asked for a little more time in the past. Granted, I returned to Serena's side.

Not long after that, I met my most precious person. Don't get me wrong, Serena will always be the most important person to me, but my precious person is my soul mate and thus held a very large part of my heart. Helios, trapped by Nehelaniah who was determined to get her hands on the golden crystal, I was glad he choose me to be his companion. And I fell in love with him. Fortunately for me, it wasn't a one sided love. He returned my affections for which I was very happy.

It was after I met Pereru that my memories of who I really was began returning. I wasn't Small Lady, daughter of Neo Queen Serenity. I was just a small girl who was lost and searching for home and my mother. With this realization came the longing to find where I truly belong. I needed to continue my search. So I left. But how could I explain my sudden disappearance? Besides, there was no guarantee I would find what I was looking for so if I left, when I came back, where could I stay? Then an Idea hit me. I could make a mirror image of myself, a clone of a sort. It took me a while but I managed it. I made a perfect mirage of myself and sent her to replace me.

Then I left in search of my real home. About two years later, I returned to the earth of the present only to find things in chaos. The mirror image of myself I had left in place of me was causing havoc for Serena. She as manipulating all of Serena's friends and family to her side and causing a great deal of pain for Serena. What had gone wrong? I had left her with my personality but came back to find she had become the devil himself. I finally revealed myself to her and told her that her service was no longer needed but she did not want to leave so I can take back my place. I decided to dissolve her then. Unfortunately for me, she had somehow become solid. Made by thin air and my powers, I should not have uncounted any problems in dissolving her, but somehow she had become real. I did not understand it. How could this possibly be?!

Then she attacked me, her powers strong. Having not expected her to attack, I was caught off guard and managed to save myself by drawing myself into time. I then saw what her attack had meant to do. She had been planning on sealing me away. I was now the biggest obstacle to having her busted, so she needed to seal me away. She couldn't kill me because I made her even if she had become real. My death would mean her own, the only thing she could do was seal me away so I never have the opportunity to tell anyone her secret.

I knew then that she wasn't my real enemy. Someone had helped her become real, someone had taught her the spell of sealing, someone had twisted her to become the abomination that she was now and that someone I did not know. I could not just return to the earth, I needed to have some sort of a plan. But what plan could I formulate when I didn't know who was really pulling her strings?

In the end, I decided that there was only one person who could help me and so I appeared to him. Helios, my beloved priest of Elysian. Coincidently, she was watching my mirror image on the surface of water, so my appearance startled him. On one hand he is watching me on earth sitting on Darien's lap eating Ice cream, and on the other hand I was standing right by him. He turned his head back and forth as if to make sense of what was happening. But when a tear dropped from my eye and I softly begged him to help me, he rushed to my side, folded me in his strong protective arms and knew, I was the real one.

After I had explained to him everything, holding nothing back, he said the only one who could help me was Endymion. The real prince of Elysian. He contacted the prince and Endymion, in the form of Crescentius, appeared. As soon as I saw him, I knew he was my father. Fortunately for me, he also recognized me immediately as his daughter and when I explained what I had done, he decided then that it was time to involve the elementals. Assured that he would take care of it, he instructed me to stay in Elysian for the time being until things were cleared up. And I have been here since then, watching Serena as she struggle through every day, crying with her as she is abused emotionally by the scouts and praying for a miracle. Serena was my mother; there was no doubt in it. It was 'when' I was born that was the real mystery. When had she given birth to me? And why had I been lost in the time stream? These were questions I had no answers to as well as who was helping my mirrored self. If I ever figure out who the bastard is, I will rip off their head.

"Serenity?" She turned, her thoughts scattered as she beheld the man she loved with all her heart watching her with worried eyes. Ever since the Elementals appeared in Elysian a week ago, Small Lady Serenity has found herself traveling down memory lane.

"I'm fine Helios, I just seem to be caught in the memories of the past." she answered. He walked toward her and her breath caught as she took in his assured strides, his silver hair that battled around his head from the gentle breeze, his clear golden eyes and his firm lips. Serenity Jr. knew she was hopelessly and helplessly in love with him, she only hoped that after everything was settled, she would still be with him.

He stood in front of her, cupped her face and kissed her gently.

"What was that for?" she asked with a blush when they pulled apart.

"I just couldn't help myself." he said with a smile.

"You're impossible." She answered; turn around to hide her blushing face. He laughed at her words and pulled her against him. Her back on his chest and they stood still, watching the sun as it slowly vanished over the horizon.

"I love you, my little lady." Helios whispered into her ears. She smiled, knowing that she didn't need to reply for him to know that she loved him too.

Hiding in the shadow of a tall pillar, Maxine left the two love birds alone. She walked out of the palace to the backyard where the maze of hedges was. The hedges were six feet, just several inches over her head. Each dead end of the maze brought you to something. The first dead end brought you to a field of roses, the second to a garden of statues and so one. Maxine continued to walk until she came to the dead end that housed a play ground. There was a seesaw there so she went and sat down. It was quiet and peaceful and she was alone, so she could think.

When Queen Serenity's power hit them, they had thought they were dead, but when they opened their eyes again, they were in Elysian.

"What?" Lava had asked, blinking and look around. "Where are we?"

"Elysian." Maxine gasped out.

"Are you serious?" Alethea asked with wide eyes.

"It's about time you got here." They heard a voice say. They all turned to where the voice had come from and saw Helios and Serenity Jr. standing there.

"Helios?" Hera asked with wavering eyes.

"It's been a long time." He said softly. All they eyes began to shake with tears. Before he could blink, they all rushed at him, plummeting him to the floor as they each tried to hug him. Some were openly crying as others laughed with tears trailing down their faces.

After a while, they managed to compose themselves somewhat and turn to look at Small Lady Serenity. Standing by her side, Queen Serenity watched them with amused eyes.

"My Queen, please do not punish Rhea and Rae, they are innocent of their mother's crimes!" Cassandra said as she stood in front of the twins.

"Cassie…" Rhea began but shut up immediately when Cassandra turned glaring eyes on her. the queen sighed.

"I have no need to punish you guys. I am no longer in position to judge, my time as queen is over. The only one who can judge you now is my daughter, for it was her who was the true victim in all of this. So until then, you are free to do whatever you want. But I brought you guys here to meet my granddaughter." The queen said, pointing to the taller version of Rini.

"Girls, let me introduce you to Princess Small Lady Serenity. Of course she is our princess Serenity's daughter. How, when, where, why I don't know any of that. The only one who knows is Serena herself but currently she has lost her memories. However Endymion does recognize her as his daughter. Serenity, I want you to meet the Elemental Soldiers. Laverna, Maxine, Alethea, Hera, Cassandra, Alexandra and Endymion's cousins, Rhea and Rae."

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." Small Lady said with a curtsy.

"Please to meet you Princess." Cassandra responded for everyone. They stood staring at Rini as she stared at them.

"Wait, did you say Endymion?" Maeve asked suddenly and they all turned to face Helios.

"Yes."

"Does this mean you have seen him?" Alexandra asked with hopeful eyes.

"Raven has gone off to see him." Helios answered.

"Where is he?!" Lava and Maxine demanded.

"Calm down girls. He is on the tower right now. But he said to give it a week before you come charging up the stairway of heaven to come see him."

"Endymion is alive….thank God." Alethea said and passed out of relief.

Over the week they've been in Elysian, they had explored, reacquainting themselves with memories of the past of their time spent in Elysian but they were all too impatient to go see Endymion that they hardly enjoyed their one week stay.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow I can go see him." Maxine said, swinging herself on the seesaw. Finally, all their waiting and wanting would soon come to an end.

"Time for dinner Maxy." Alethea said as she walked into the play ground and saw her sister sitting on one of the swing.

"Alethea, everything will be alright right?" Maxine asked, her eyes desperate for assurance. So many times their hopes had been raised only to face bitter disappointment. She was trying hard to not rejoice, not to have so much hope until she has seen him with her own eyes

"Everything will be fine. He is here, I can feel it." Alethea said as she came behind Maxine and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. They stilled like that for a few minutes before leaving for dinner.

Tomorrow, they would go see Endymion and finally bring an end to their long years of searching.

It has been a week since Serena learned the truth behind the lies and death of countless innocent people. The first day after her father had told her everything that had been hidden from her, she saw of spent the whole day in her room in a sad, depressive state. How had she been so naïve and ignorant about everything that had happened. Somehow it made her feel she was the one to be blamed.

The following day started out with her in her depressive state but not wanting a mopy daughter on his hand, Axel took her out of her room to show her his kingdom. It was very big, the best way to describe it was a small town and its residences were more of spirits than physical beings though she did come across people who had physical bodies.

"This is just a dimension within Limbo. Everyone you see here works to keep order." Axel explained.

"I don't get it; I thought limbo was supposedly a terrible place?" Serena commented.

"It is, only those whose crimes are unforgivable are sentenced here. But even here, prisoners are grouped into categories though the punishment of a thousand years of endless pain and torture with no way of dying is the same despite what crime each committed."

"Oh, I see." Serena said, still not seeing how living in such a peaceful beautiful town as this a punishment.

"Remember the darkness we walked through before coming here?" Axel asked. Serena remembered. At the time she had been distracted and had paid little attention as to what laid within the darkness. But she can remember feeling very cold. Not cold as in freezing, but cold as in she was walking through a mine field and any moment now, she would step where the mine would blow up.

"That is limbo. Here is the administrative work house. It is in that darkness that our criminals are placed. Limbo is actually bigger than the earth, it expand throughout the whole of the universe. From the spirit world, our criminals are brought here and their names are written in the black book. Once that is done, they are cast into the darkness to face their demons and other demons in the blackness of limbo. If I lived in that darkness, I would be facing the same endless torture as they and I am not a criminal!" he said.

"Mmmm." Even still, Serena could not imagine just how painful the experience in being in limbo was like.

"Hold on to my hand." He said to her. She blinked but did as he had instructed. One minute they were in the sun, the next they were in utter darkness and Serena's heart chilled. Piercing screams of pain and anguish greeted her ears in the darkness, insane laughter, cries that had no words, groans that spoke of unbelievable suffering. Tears poured down her face, she was so frightened and the screams of torturous pain began to work its way into her head. She let go of his hand, blocked her ears with her hands but still the sounds could not be muffled. She didn't even realize it when her own voice joined in the woes of limbo's victim. Even without seeing what kind of unimaginable torture was being done to these people, theirs screams of pain, their wanting for death spoke volumes of why limbo was to be avoided at all cost.

She opened her eyes several hours later and found herself laying under the cheery blossom tree she and her dad had sat under just two days before. Even back in the safety of Limbo's palace grounds, she could still hear the tormented cries in the blackness and she wondered if she would ever be able to forget. If these criminals had known their fate, would they have committed the acts they had done to earn them a place here?

"And that is just the tip of the iceberg." Axel's voice entered her ears. She looked up and found him sitting on the tree.

"Wha…what do you mean?" she asked, her voice sounding out of breath and dry.

"Nobody who lives in this dimensional part of Limbo has ever seen the means of torture these criminals suffers through but they too have heard the screams of agony. Nobody, except me. I accidently entered limbo on a near death incident when I was a boy over several millenniums ago. At the time, this dimension did not exist and no one ruled limbo. I went through the torture, saw what caused it. It is not a pretty sight. As Elysian thrives on the pure dreams of people of the earth, Limbo is the opposite. Manifesting all the horrible thoughts and nightmares and imaginations of all living things in the universe. Limbo is filled with the darkness of the universe, the pain and torture of the worlds. Demons roam freely, their only intent to cause pain to the souls that are being punished here. It is a place that would drive anybody mad. At the time, my mother had been the one to drive my soul back from limbo. But for many years I went mad, literally. I was locked indoors for over a century unable to get rid of the screams and what I had witnessed within the shadows. Two hundred years later, a soul of a child fell into limbo and it could not be retrieved. It was then I made up my mind to create this dimension in limbo so that those whose soul's accidentally ended up there would not have to suffer the fates of people who deserved the punishment of limbo. But in truth, there is no one, man or not who deserve such a torture. So I began learning how to create dimensions, I trained and I finally managed to create it and placed it here. Since no one wanted to be the ruler of limbo, not even the ancient Immortals, I accepted the crown as its ruler and I came to live here. Over the years, many lost souls ended up here just like I thought. Soon, all souls would land here before passing to serve their sentence in limbo. This way, I am able to return the souls that did not belong here to the spirit world for them to pass on." He told her.

Serena pondered his words. From what he had told her, she finally came to understand just what kind of person this man was. This man who was her father. Suddenly, the resentment she had for him for the fact that he had never been part of her life even though he lived vanished and she became proud of the this man who went out of his way to help people, well, dead souls people anyway.

"You said people whose crimes cannot be forgiven right?" Serena suddenly asked. He nodded. "Does that mean the soul of Queen Gaia is here?"

"Yes. But unlike the criminals who would only be here for a thousand years, she would be here for eternity. That was the judgment passed on her by the immortals and the universe itself." he answered as he looked up but he was sad. She supposed that he was sad for her because she had once been her friend but that cruel woman deserved the sentencing!

"No Serenity, nobody, not even her deserve this. Yes, she deserves to be brutally punished for all that she had done, but even for her, this is too much." He said.

After that, Serena spent the following days getting to know the souls and people who lived in the dimension in limbo which was appropriately names light house. As they all recognized her as Axel's daughter, they celebrated that an heir has finally appeared. They treated her with respect and reverence and worshiped her even more when they learned she was the legendary sailor moon. She also learned that every time she used her powers as sailor moon, a lost soul always found itself out of limbo and back into the spirit world. Serena found them quite an enjoyable company.

And so, the week passed.

At the beginning of the following week, she was having dinner with her father when he suddenly looked at her with a serious expression.

"So, what do you want to do now Serenity?" he father asked her. They were sitting under the cheery blossom where they had sat a week ago when the truth was being revealed to Serena. It was only fitting that after that day, whenever they needed to talk, it would be under that tree.

"I don't know." She murmured. It wasn't that she didn't know, though that was partially true. It was the thought that nothing that she will do now can change anything. All the lies and deceit had already happened, people have died and her scouts had betrayed her. And she wasn't even sure where she stood with the sisters now, so what could she possibly do other than return to earth and continue her life as always?

"I know this is all too much for one person to shoulder alone. Why don't you go see Endymion?" her father suggested.

An image of Xander flashed before her eyes, but it wasn't as the innocent man she had fallen in love with. The image was of the last time she had spoken with him. Standing aloof, chiding her for all her weakness and walking away from her. She didn't want to admit it but she felt rejected by him. It was because of her wishy washy attitude that had turned him away from her. And nothing had changed since, what was the point of going to him? She hadn't changed, and she was the same useless girl he had practically told her she was. Going to him now would change nothing. So she thought. What Serena didn't want to admit, even to herself was that she was afraid of meeting Xander, aka Endymion again. He had been so disappointed in her. if she didn't do a drastic change of character, her going back to him would only be to get her heart broken. She wasn't ready for that.

But if she could not go to him then who else? Obviously not Darien and she really didn't want to go back to earth when no one there cared for her. so then what other choice did she have but to stay in limbo with her father? At least for a while, to train and mature. To learn to like and appreciate herself. Maybe if she could gain some confidence, she could return to earth and live on her own without fearing a life of loneliness. Besides, what had a life of being surrounded by people done for her?

"Dad?" she said.

"Yes sweetheart?" he replied, looking at her with no hint of emotion.

"I know I am immature, weak, stupid and useless." She said but he didn't respond. "It was because of my inability to be a good leader that had caused everyone so many problems. If I left for earth now, nothing is going to change. I will still be that useless girl who doesn't know how to do anything. So if you don't mind….for the mean time, will you let me stay here? You know, to train and study and make something of myself." she said, closing her eyes tightly as she waited for her father's verdict.

"You are not useless my dearest, nor are you stupid or weak. And I agree that going back to earth right now may not be in your best interest. I do not mind you staying here for the rest of your life; I just want to make sure it IS your decision to stay here. I will give you all the guidance and training befitting a princess and a great leader. The next your scouts sees you, they will not have a single negative thing to say about you this I promise." He said with a wink at her. She looked up at him before a soft smile spread on her face.

"Thank you daddy." She said.

"You're most welcome." He said, drawing her into his embrace.

And as was promised, over the course of her time spent in limbo he led her through series of drills and strenuous training that left her muscles acing every night and her brain tired from all the studying her put her through. It was bad enough she was learning martial art, the use of proper magic such as incantations and spells, the manipulation of power, defense strategies, the ability to use her powers without a medium like her wands and scepters, control over all the elements of nature, long hours of tiring book work and balancing it all within twelve hours of the waking day, but she had to learn domestic lifestyles such as cooking, cleaning, sowing and managing things. Many nights before she fell into deep slumber, she cursed herself for deciding to stay. But haven began this; she would be proving Endymion, Goddess Selene and everyone right if she backed out. She wanted to change, grow up, and be dependable. This was a change she herself wanted; it was no longer about fitting in with the scouts. It was about finding peace within herself knowing she had given her all.

Knowing that she was doing this for herself, the first decision she had ever made only for herself, she gave it her all, never complaining and taking in everything she learned. Even when her body ace so much and she could barely move a muscle, she continued to train, even when she was so sleepy and tired after hours of study, she continued to learn.

She wanted to change.

And as her training and lessons hardened and tested her on all grounds, she found the changes in her, she saw the difference and she became happier. Little by little she became aware of her own unknown strengths and she found the heart to love herself and to accept herself for what she was. And with each new achievement came the feeling of pride and self worth. And as her awareness broadened, so did her confidence.

Two years passed and Serena seemed to have changed and yet she had not. She was still that same sweet little girl she had been before, but she was stronger. Her pink and gold aura finally changed into bluish silver to reflect herself.

This was the true birth of sailor moon.

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	11. Chapter 11 Endymion

Changed Destiny: Crescentia's Story

**Chapter 11- Endymion**

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"I don't know why they call this the staircase of heave. It's more like hell!" Raven mumbled, haven climbed over a thousand stairs and still no end in sight. She continued to forge onward but with each step she felt as if she wouldn't ever get to her destination. She had pushed herself through the Silent Grave with all its ghostly echoes, walked through the Thorn Forest because one could not fly above and dealt with the darkness of Black Scar, a terrifying hollow underground which rippled with demonic laughter and stray nightmares from Limbo to finally reach the base of the tower all in two days, a record she was proud to have achieved. But because of her punishing pace, her arrival at the base left her exhausted and thus slowed her progress up the stairs immensely but still she would not rest. Sweat like tear drops detached from her face, heavy breathing echoed throughout the silent winding staircase and when she tried to take another step and realized she couldn't move, her exhaustion at its maximum, she stood silent for a period of time before her body crumbled on top of the stairs she stood on and she sat still for many minutes before darkness consumed her conscious mind.

From up above, the master of the tower watched her with pained and yet an amused expression. He, more than anyone else, knew how stubborn Raven could be and yet even she was a living breathing being and she was susceptible to exhaustion as any human being. Sighing in a fond and yet tired way, Crescentius rose above the clouds in his phoenix form and dived down toward his fallen friend knowing Raven would not be waking up anytime soon and he couldn't possibly leave her there now could he? No he could not but the thought was amusing all the same.

**It** took a day and a half for the crimson haired elemental soldier to awaken from her sleep induce coma. When she did, she disorientedly looked about her surroundings, lost as to where she was. As she got off the bed to investigate the room she found herself in, a soft almost imperceptible knock came at the door. She looked toward it, and then looked at herself to make sure that she was decently dressed and armed just in case the person behind the door meant her any harm. But as she charged up her power, a very old and familiar aura intruded her clouded mind. She blinked, losing her concentration and loosening the power she had just charged up.

_I know that feeling. _She thought. As if drawn by forces she could neither see nor control, her foot moved one after the other and in three quick hurried steps, she reached the door and yanked it open, slamming it to the wall in her hyperactive state. Across from her, the person she had longed to see for centuries stood staring warily at the slammed door and sighed.

"I hope that door is not broken." He said sadly.

Raven stood, her jaw locked, her eyes wide with incomprehensible disbelief. The man before her had long raven locks, dark cobalt eyes and a figure worthy of drools. For near five minutes, Raven's mind blanked out and the man stood staring at her with a raised brow.

How had she not realized it? This man, the man she loved so much but could never have because he belonged to another. The man who had been her best friend and sparring partner. This man and the man she had spent an entire year with were one and the same! When this realization sank into her brain, all her frustrations, anger, hate, loneliness and pain rushed to the surface and she found herself crying in the arms of her best friend.

"Endymion why?" She sobbed. Her pain, raw and open, as if it had been caused that moment instead of the hundreds of years that it had accumulated.

"Because I had no other choice." He answered simply as he held her and allowed her to cry to her heart's content.

* * *

Haven left Elysian to follow in the trail of their crimson haired sister, the millennium elementals and the two earth princesses transverse the course to the tower on a more luxurious pace than had Raven. They all wept bitterly at the Silent Grave but found the strength to forge onward least they be caught in devastating echoing ghostly realm. The thorns in the Thorn Forest stabbed at their fleshing, tearing away at layers of epidermis tissues and bleeding them but still the sisters moved forward, determined as Raven had been to reach the tower and be finally assured that their prince and brother was safe and sound once and for all. Not much talking was done and except the occasional yelps of pain and groans and voices of concern, the Thorn Forest housed them in its silent belly. It took them two days to cross that forest alone but before they could proceed onward after haven crossed the forest, Cassandra called a halt to the party so that they might rest. They had another day of walk ahead of them in order to reach Black Scar and they knew they would need to be very alert or they could easily give into the shadows of that damned place and be lost in the blackness of limbo forever. They found a tree with wide branches and plenty of leaves and at its root, they rested, sharing the packed food Helios had prepared for them.

In an indiscernible agreement, they all sat facing different directions so they could deal with their own emotions. They had all come to terms and accepted that they had been manipulated as easily as the Inners had been but even so, it was hard to believe that the white moon queen was totally blameless. The persons they were now were based on their hatred toward the queen and the power scouts, their dislike of the silver millennium and their love for the white moon princess. With no longer any need to hate the queen and no longer a silver millennium to dislike, what were they to do? Besides, there were no guarantees that when princess Serenity returned, IF she did return, she would choose them. After all, they had heard from Helios that the Inners were regretful of their crimes to the princess and hopes to make amends. With those girls back in her life, what would Serena want with them? It was a scary thought and they didn't dwell on it much but somehow they knew at the very button of their hearts that if Serenity was to tell them that she no longer needs them, they would break and would never be able to live again. In their hearts, they all prepared themselves for the rejection and all considered what their reaction would be.

As they sat contemplating their fate, a tear slid down the face of the elemental soldier of love. More than anything else, in that moment, all Maxine wanted was to be in the embrace of her best friend Raven. She had hidden it well, plastered on a smile and waved goodbye at Helios and Neo Princess Serenity but inwardly, her heart cried out in pain. She knew that she had lost all her chances to be with him. After all, she had never told him how she felt. She had hoped and prayed that when the issues plaguing them were settled and all was well again, she would have the opportunity to confess to him. She had not expected that he would find a lover in the neo princess. Covering her eyes, Maxine let the silent teas fall. Unrequited love was so painful.

* * *

Back on earth, after the confrontation between the Outers and the Inners, life took on an uncertain curve. The Outers, with the exception of Hotaru disappeared. When the following day after the confrontation, Hotaru returned to the house to hear the truth of the matter directly from her comrades, she found the house empty, devoid of any and all personal processions. There was not even crumb of anything on the floor. Taking out her communicator, she pressed the all call button.

"Hotaru?" Amy asked as she saw the face of the younger Outer reflected on her end of the communicator.

"The house is empty." She said simply.

"Huh?" Mina replied intelligently.

"They are not here anymore." She repeated. A part of her was shocked that they could up and disappear without a trace or care. But that part was a very small part. Even though she had promised she would not talk to them again, over the night as she slept, she contemplated many things and decided to give them a chance to come clean so they might work something out. To pack and leave without warning, to run away without facing the punishment of their crimes, Saturn was most displeased with them. The longer she stayed around the empty house, the angrier she became.

If even Serena forgave them, she wouldn't. She would make them pay severely for stringing her along.

"Who are you talking about?" Rei asked, clearly confused at Hotaru's fractional sentences.

"Are they Outers no longer at their residence?" Amy asked. Hotaru nodded.

"Where did they go?" Lita asked, not understanding the full extent of Hotaru's words.

"I don't know. There is nothing at the house. Nothing." Finally her meaning sank into their skulls and Lita growled with suppressed fury.

"Those cowards!" she growled out, sharing the sympathy of all.

No one said anything for a minute, their minds racing through uncompleted thoughts.

"So what now?" Mina asked.

"Now we continue to search for Serena." Rei answered.

"No need." Hotaru answered.

"Why?" Amy asked curiously.

"Because I know where she is."

"WHERE?!" They all demanded.

"Limbo." A gasp tore out of their throats in shock horror.

"Why?!" Rei demanded, fear clutching at her heart.

"Because her father is the king of Limbo."

* * *

They rested that night and continued on their journey when the moon sank behind the horizon the following morning. By nightfall, they found themselves at the entrance of Black Scar. They debated moving forward or sleeping through the night again before chancing Black Scar and though majority felt it would be wiser to enter that blackened space during day time hours to reduce blackened illusions, Maxine would not have it. She wanted to get moving. Stopping, sitting, not doing anything gave her too much time to dwell on her hurting heart and she didn't feel that she had the strength to cry again that night. Even so, she told her sisters that they could wait but she was going on ahead.

Not wanting to let her go by herself, they squared themselves for whatever they may encounter in the belly of that abominable darkness called Black Scar.

* * *

The week following the Outers disappearance, Darien found himself constantly in fear of being attacked by the Inners but with each day that passed without them at his door charging at him, he grew more and more confident that they had no idea his role in all of this.

_But it is strange._ He thought. _They haven't even called me once or come by and Andrew says they haven't stopped by at the arcade either. What's going on?_

As much as he wanted to know the minds of the Inners, he was too scared to chance going to meet them so he buried himself in school work. He became so busy that he paid almost no attention to Rini and as days passed and his attitude grew colder towards her, she too began to stay away from him.

Haven learned what the Inners had done to the Outers, Rini stayed away from the Inners. She knew that they weren't onto her yet but right now they were on Serena high, if she appeared to them, it could cause them to start thinking of why they had hurt Serena so much and they would soon realize that Rini had also manipulated them in turning them against their princess. Oh no, it was best to stay away for a while. She had no idea where Serena was and she hoped that the moon princess would never return. She still got along with the Tsukinos and they weren't much worried about their missing daughter because Cassie of the Elementals had sent them a letter explaining that Serena was participating in a program for school that would allow her to excel greatly. Knowing that their daughter was in safe hands, it never occurred to them to ask why Serena herself did not call them.

At school since their teacher Trista had suddenly disappeared, they had a new teacher who was strict and didn't allow them the freedom Trista had given them. Hotaru never spoke much to Rini and Rini contributed her sudden distance to the disappearance of the Outers.

Because of her silence, Hotaru became a favorite of the teacher. Not having much energy to deal with an always screaming teacher, Hotaru did everything that was asked of her so that she wouldn't be bothered much. Rini on the other hand buttered heads with the teacher so frequently that she began getting detention nearly every day.

Fed up with the teacher for making her out to be a bad child, Rini intended to hurt the teacher to teach her a lesson but when she commanded the silver crystal's power to unleash her power on the teacher and had no response from the crystal, she became disorganize. Upon opening the compact containing the crystal and realizing that the stone crystal gem was no longer there, Rini knew her gig was up.

* * *

Maxine's hurting feelings almost made her a fetal victim of Black Scar's menace but thanks to her loving sisters, they were all able to cross the dark abyss and finally reach the base of the long tower. There they stopped to rest and this time Maxine did not protest. After a couple hours of rest, they began their ascent up the winding staircase. Moving at fast pace at their maximum strength, the Elementals quickly ascended the incredibly taxing climb, resting for a moment and continuing again and again. The further they ascended, the giddier they became until they could no longer contain the incredible happiness they felt at being able to meet their honorable prince again. And with this giddiness buoying their spirits, they found the strength to ascend up the tower in two days of what would have normally been a five days journey.

Upon entering the sacred compound of the Elysian tower at the top of the stairs, they allowed themselves to collapse on the tiled floor, breathing hard and trying to regain their breaths.

Two figures stood in shadow a few feet from them, watching them with joy and amusement. They refrained from appearing to the sisters because they knew the sisters would jump at Endymion right away without fully recuperating from their exhaustive journey and so for thirty minutes, the figures stood still and the sisters recovered breath by breath.

When they were fully able to breathe again, they sat up, looked at each other and burst into heartwarming laughter. They looked a mess. After all the excitement to see Endymion, they had just wasted thirty minutes recovering. How Ironic.

"Share the joke cause I certainly missed it." Endymion said, making his and Raven's presence known. As they stepped out of the shadow, a deep silence surrounded them. After coming all this way, you'd expect they would jump at Endymion the moment they saw him but instead they all seem to avoid his eyes. This caused Endymion's sardonic brows to rise.

"Well, I didn't know today was avoid Endymion's eyes day. Someone should have told me the memo." He said sarcastically. But still no words greeted him and he sighed. After all these years, he still didn't know how to deal with girls.

"Guys…" Raven began but was quickly cut off by Cassandra whose face tears fell.

"We're so sorry Endymion. So sorry that we couldn't find you and that someone else had to tell us where you are." She said, ashamed for haven failed her prince.

"Of course you couldn't find me. I made sure that you couldn't." their heads came up at that.

"But why?" Maxine asked miserably.

"Because if you could locate me, so could others." They thought about his words and they knew he was right but even so, they felt retched inside. They should still have been able to find him. They insisted in their own heads.

"You know, life hasn't always been kind to us and there is no guarantee that it will ever be. You can use this time to mop over things that were NOT within your control or you can make the most of this reunion. It's up to you." Endymion said. Bursting into uncontrollable tears, the twins rushed at him and he received them with open arms. Soon after, the others followed, their own tears mingled in chocked laughter and a relief sigh that mingled around them like smoke.

Finally, after all the pain and sorrow, finally they were together again.

Nothing could compare to the happiness they felt that moment and they clung to the Elysian prince, assuring themselves finally that all was well.

* * *

At school, the Inners were ambushed and questioned about the disappearance of the sisters and Serena but they acted as if they didn't know. After all, the whole school was aware that a rift had come between them and Serena so it didn't come as a surprise when they answered that they didn't know. Though Molly and Melvin didn't believe the girls when they said they didn't know, they could not force the Inners to tell them anything.

Frustrated, they approached the Tsukino couples who happily told them that Serena was attending some program to excel her academic skills. Though that sounded plausible, there was still the question of the sister's disappearance. Surely THEY didn't need help academically as Serena did. What was their excused?

Having no answers forth coming, they too decided to wait and see if their missing classmates would turn up.

The Inners, haven learned the location of their missing princess and some minor details about her father that they had never heard about, decided to move on with their own lives and be the best at everything they do so that they can better serve their princess upon her return.

At school Amy took Extra notes, Lita learned more recipes of food she was sure Serena would like, Mina became active in seeking a modeling or acting gig hoping to make some money so that when Serena returned she could spoil her and Rei continued to deal with the darkness within her own heart. Every evening she sat before the fireless sacred alter, praying and begging and apologizing and hoping for the return of the bird of fire. She would spend her whole life if she must to make amends for her evil ways.

* * *

"I didn't come to you guys at first when I escaped from my prison because I knew I would easily be found so I cast spell after spell of concealment with the little energy I had remaining in me. After which, I was so drained that my body shut down and Helios helped me up to this place to sleep and recuperate. What I hadn't expected was that my body would sleep so long. Because Serenity had been born, though my body slept, my soul was restless so my spirit left my body and I went to watch over Serena for many years.

It was when she was thirteen, when she first became sailor moon that I finally woke up but I couldn't go to her because at the time, the white queen's spirit was often time around her daughter and if I came to you, you wouldn't have believed me because your memories were still locked up then. You thought you were normal humans. It wasn't until a year ago with my princess hurting extremely that I realized that hiding wasn't going to make the situation any better and that's why I came to you as Xander and my conscious spirit as Flavius and the rest you know what happened."

"This whole thing is so confusing that I'm starting to think I dreamt everything." Alexa said with sigh. Endymion chuckled at that.

They were sitting in a richly furnished dining room with gold and cream coloring everywhere and a golden chandelier that illuminated the room with its warm soft golden radiance. Varieties of food were set before them, and as they ate, they caught up on all events until the present. The sisters filled Endymion and Raven in on everything they had heard from the queen and from the king of limbo, a story Endymion found rather hard to accept.

"So, you're saying that the whole mess was caused by my aunt rather than Queen Serenity?" Endymion asked for the tenth time. It was hard to stomach that he had acted rashly and had also been easily manipulated into believing the white queen was responsible for his sorrows.

"Yes Endymion and I know it's hard to believe it but truly, Queen Serenity is innocent." Maeve said gently. Endymion sighed. How do you stop hating someone you've hated for centuries?

"Raven…?" Maxine began.

"It's alright. I already knew that I had been deceived. When our memories returned to us, I considered everything that had happened. I knew somewhere I had been tricked, I just hadn't been able to figure out where and by whom. Now after everything you've said to me, it makes sense. So much sense that I want kill that damn witch!" Raven finished with a growl, her eyes blazing fire in her fury.

For a while, they continued to eat in silence until Alethea spoke up.

"So now what?"

"What do you mean?" Laverna asked with blinking eyes.

"Now what do we do? In the past we had a goal or a purpose pushing us forward, now that it seems everything is settled, what do we do? What is our role? Our goal? Our purpose?" She said. They all thought about it and they knew she was right. They could live their lives as normal people but that seemed so mediocre after their extraordinary lives. Could they even pretend to be content in a normal life anymore?

"The only one who holds all those answers is Serenity. Until we've come face to face again with her, we won't know what destiny awaits us. All we can do now is to return to our normal lives, work hard and earn enough to take care of our princess so that she never have a need or a reason to lift a single hand. I wanna give her everything she could ever want. For now, that will be my goal." Endymion said.

"There's nothing to do after all. And if she doesn't choose us, well we tried and we can finally give up and move forward on our own without expecting anything." Hera said. It was a sobering thought but one that had to be voiced out.

"What about me?" Endymion asked.

"Pardon?" Cassie asked.

"If she doesn't choose you guys which I hope she does, it doesn't mean that I can't choose you guys."

"But Endymion, you already have the generals." Maxine said sadly.

"Whoever said that I only needed 4 guardians?" he replied. They blinked at that. True, there was no written law that said Endymion could have only four protectors.

Alexa laughed. All this time, they thought their only option was the moon princess but in truth, they could have sought to be protectors of any other prince or princess throughout the universe, so why had they remained ever faithful to the moon princess?

"You know, it never occurred to me that it was possible. I guess we're so single minded that we don't see other opportunities around us." Alexa said.

"Well to be honest, I feel bound to serve Princess Serenity and her alone. But if I were to serve anyone who wasn't her, I would serve you Endymion. You or Serenity I wouldn't mind serving my whole life however I will serve no other else. Not your children, nor your grandchildren." Maeve answered. They thought about her words and they all smiled, knowing she had spoken for all of them.

"Speaking of children, have you guys met…."

"Neo Princess Serenity otherwise known as Rini? Yes we have but I'm confused about something." Alethea said, her puzzlement reflected in the furrowed of her brows.

"I know. Rini seems to already be born but honestly I cannot tell when that would have been and how I hadn't known about it but yes, she is mine and Serenity's child. As for the other Rini at the Tsukino residence, she is a mirror reflection of the real Rini. The real Rini wanted to search for her mother, at the time she hadn't know she is the current Serena's daughter. Since she didn't just want to disappear and she couldn't tell Serena what she was up to, she created a mirror image of herself to replace her as she went on her search for her mother. But when she returned, the fake Rini had somehow become solidified and was making Serena's life a living hell. In trying to draw back the fake Rini, her mirror image turned on her and attacked her. She was barely able to escape and so she came to Helios for help. Helios in turn brought her to me and we decided that for the time being, it was best for her to stay here at Elysian until we've figured out a way to deal with the situation at hand."

"Why is everything connected to Serenity always so complicated?" Rae asked and they all sighed.

"Oh by the way Endymion, are you going to call for the earth generals?" Rhea asked.

"They are already on their way here. They are crossing the Silent Grave as we speak."

"I guess we can figure out what to do till Serenity comes back when they get here. For the mean time, a warm bath would do me some real good." Cassie said as she stood up. She began cleaning the dining table.

"A warm bath will do all of us good." Maeve agreed.

"You do that while I go to the moon to talk to her majesty." Endymion said, a little sarcasm dripping at the 'her majesty' part.

"Will you be ok by yourself?" Raven asked, not feeling comfortable at the idea of parting with Endymion if even for a few hours.

"You can come along if you want." He said as he rose to walk towards the dining room exit. Raven quickly rose up and followed him. Maxine watched the scene with hurting heart. She knew of Raven's feelings for their prince. Hers too was an unrequited love but even knowing that her feelings could and would not be returned, Raven still loved him. Maxine shook her head.

No, she could not continue to love Helios. It will kill her long before any enemy attempted. She just hoped that with time she would be able to get over him and find a love that would be worth investing her heart into it.

* * *

I'M SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME SUCH A REALLY LONG TIME TO UPDATE BUT I PROMISE YOU THAT I WILL FINISH THE STORY UNLESS OF COURSE I DIE. LOL

PLEASE enjoy and REVIEW PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...I NEED IDEAS! I have a general idea of where my story is going but i still like to hear fresh ideas and your opinions so let me know! DON'T FLAME ME PLEASE ...I'M VERY BREAKABLE


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